Before the Fires of Dawn
by Solid Coffee
Summary: Braste Dawnvictor and Linxio Wyrdfire. A killer and a thief. A Nord and a Khajiit. An amateur and a know-it-all. One who wants to forget her past and one who wants to hold onto it. Two different lives with same the goals: Saving the world and themselves. Follows almost every quest in Skyrim.
1. Prologue

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn **_

**So this shall be the 4th time I attempt at a Skyrim story. So far, all have failed! :D I know, that's not a good thing, but I just smile when I think about it.  
**

**Well, here's the prologue. Go ahead and read it. Hope it sparks some interest. Feel free to comment at any time.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skyrim. I just own Braste and Linxio.  
**

* * *

Braste Dawnvictor

Linxio Wyrdfire

.-.-.

Once insane

Twice in vain

Three times dead

Four times in their head

Fifth a traitor

Sixth a slayer

Sevenfold liar

Eightfold higher

Ninth night is woe

Tenth is death row

.-.-.

They will fight together to save the world

They will watch opposing flags after they unfurled

They will become champions

They will become companions

They will learn of their legacies

They will learn of their enemies

.-.-.

As the prophecies forewarn

You will hear their voices calling

Dragonborn


	2. I: Journey to Helgen

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn **_

**Yay! Chapter one! I didn't give up yet! This is a good sign...  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skyrim. I own (and very happily) Braste and Linxio.  
**

* * *

**Helgan**

The four Nords stared at the Khajiit sitting on the floor of the cart with her legs propped up on one seat and her head resting on the other. Her eyes were closed and her ears were flat against her head. Her breathing was calm and steady. Her fur was a dark, smoky gray with midnight black stripes. The right half of the cat's face was a crimson red with three parallel, silver scars ran down the side of her cheek. She wore many different sized bracelets, along a necklace that seemed to be made of teeth and strange vibe seemed to come from each one.

"Which one of us is going to wake her up?" Ralof asked, then looked at the brunette Nord woman sitting next to him.

"I'm fine with her sleeping. Besides, their accents annoy me too much," Braste shook her head. She leaned back against the cart, but made sure not to touch the cat on the floor of it.

Ralof turned to Lokir, who declined promptly. "And risk getting my eyes clawed out? No thank you."

Ulfric, after listening to their conversation, rolled his eyes and nudged the Khajiit abruptly with his knee. She, still sitting on the wagon's floor with her eyes closed, tore a few gashes into his upper left arm to show him what she thought about that. While he cursed quietly into his gag, she laid her hands in her lap and tried to fall asleep.

"How long has she been awake?" Braste whispered to Ralof.

"I've been awake this whole time," The cat replied, surprising Braste and Ralof. "You all talk _way _too much. I know people who run around screaming their heads off and I can fall asleep listening to them better than I can listening to you."

Ralof and Braste exchanged quizzical looks. The Khajiit opened her eyes and made her way up to the seat her head had been resting on. She took a good look at her fellow prisoners.

Braste was clearly a Nord. She was built like a wall and had the muscles of a warrior but still somehow kept her feminine form. The long hair that hung loosely around her face was a very dark brown and her eyes were a blue like the petals of a Deathbell plant that drove through your skull like knives. Very faintly, almost invisible in fact, on the right side of her face there was a…design. It flowed down from her earlobe and swirled upwards, then back down to her neck. On the opposite side, there was a long, jagged scar.

Ralof's silver eyes were soft; not accusing like Braste's. His hair was blonde, almost like honey. Most of it hung down to his shoulders except for one braid that hung down in front of his face. His beard was darker than the rest of his hair, though. He had muscles, like Braste, but the veins were visible and thick on his arms.

Then there was Lokir. His hair was dark, almost black. His pale blue eyes were ringed with a dark purple color, most likely from exhaustion. He seemed somewhat disconnected, like he couldn't believe he got caught. This annoyed the cat.

_Every thief gets caught once in a while; don't think you're an exception, _the cat thought to herself, though she desperately wanted to scream it at him.

Ulfric was kind of what the Khajiit thought every Nord was like. Strong, muscular, and needed a gag to keep them quiet. His arm was still bleeding from her expression of…_appreciation _when he hit her with his knee. His hair was the color of bronze and his eyes were the color of ice.

_That's another thing about Nords, _she thought, _almost all of them have those eerily pale eyes._

"What's your name, Khajiit?" Ralof asked, breaking her concentration. Her ears flattened against her head.

"One: Do not call me Khajiit," She growled. "I'm only half Khajiit."

"Ok," Ralof said with a puzzled tone. "Then what's your other half?"

"How should I know? All I know is that my father was not in the beast race. I never bothered to classify him," The cat snapped.

He held up his bound hands in a defensive fashion. "I meant no disrespect. I was just curious."

The Khajiit sighed angrily. "And two: My name is Linxio Wyrdfire."

"How come you don't speak like other Khajiits?" Braste questioned.

"Like I said before," Linxio started. "My father was not a Khajiit, and he primarily raised me. I was mostly around everything and everyone but Khajiits."

Braste just nodded. Though everyone still had questions, it went silent. It would have been deafening if not for the singing of the birds and the horses' hooves.

Linxio decided to end that silence. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know, but Sovngarde awaits," Ralof responded.

"Thanks for such a detailed reply." Linxio said sarcastically, then started picking at her binds with her claws. Braste watched as the cat started to break the ropes around her hands then looked up to her face. She stopped cutting the rope and looked at the Nord. "What?"

"What happened to your face?" Braste asked brusquely.

"What happened to _your _face?" Linxio countered.

"Only if you tell me what happened to yours first," The Nord said.

"Ok, but only if you tell me what happened to _yours_ first," Linxio smiled.

Braste glared at the cat. "Are you mocking me?"

"Are _you_-" She started.

"Ok! I get it; you don't want to tell me."

"Correction: _You _don't want to tell _me._"

"Shut up back there!" The Imperial guard driving the cart shouted when they started to round a corner surrounded by giant rocks. At this same time, Linxio's binds fell to her lap in one coil of rope.

She wrapped it around her hands until about six inches hanging loosely between them, and then pulled it around the guard's throat. "How about you shut up for good?" The man struggled to pull the rope away from his neck, but the Khajiit did not lose her hold. His body went limp. "That wasn't too hard."

The other prisoners exchanged glances. She looked back at them and held the Imperial's armor in one hand. She waved her hand dismissively. "Look away, perverts."

.-.-.

The wagon rounded the corner. Four prisoners sat in the back and stared at the driver dressed in Imperial armor, who was lounging on the front seat with the reins clutched in one hand.

A smile crossed the Khajiit's face. "I feel…empowered."

Ralof laughed. "That was very sneaky of you, Khajiit."

Linxio spun around, her dark hair swinging behind her, and aimed the sword the guard had been carrying at his throat. "I thought I told you not to call me 'Khajiit'."

His pale eyes were wide with fear and he swallowed hard. "Ah, that you did. Old habits die hard, eh?" He added a nervous laugh.

"Yes they do, start working on yours," She sheathed the sword then looked ahead.

After a moment of silence, Linxio started swaying her head, which Braste noticed.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"What are _you_ doing?" The cat looked back at the Nord and smiled. "I'm joking. I actually don't care what you're doing."

_Wow, how self-absorbed is she? _Braste thought.

Before the half-Khajiit could reply, hoof beats came galloping up from behind. Another soldier fell in line next to the cart.

"Hey, Clarke," The man said to Linxio, who didn't turn her head. "Wasn't there 5 Stormcloak prisoners in your cart?"

"There most certainly were 5 prisoners in this cart, along with a guard who is now dead," She turned to the man next to her. "Which you will now be."

She drew her sword out, and before the guard or anyone else could act, she stuck it through his stomach. He clutched his midsection and she pushed him off his horse with the base of the blade. "And down you go!"

She turned and looked past the people in the cart. "Nobody saw that, right?"

Lokir shook his head, so did Ulfric and Ralof. Braste laughed.

"Wow, you never have any second thoughts killing someone, do you?" She said with a smile.

Linxio also smiled. "I never have second thoughts about anything. I'm a woman, of result."

"Then onwards my friend, to whatever may lay ahead," Ralof remarked.

"And what lays ahead is Helgan, where we shall all probably die." The cat continued to grin slyly.

* * *

**Yes, I know, we are not at Helgan yet, this was a tedious chapter to write. They will be there in the next chapter. **

**I will hopefully get the next chapter up by at least Friday.  
**

**Next time:  
**

**_I see a dragon! I told you all we were going to die!  
_**


	3. II: The Headsman's Axe

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn **_

**Finally, I finished the chapter. I know I'm a day late, but I was busy. I actually wrote most of this chapter with my voice. :P  
**

**_Disclaimer:_ I don't own Skyrim. I own Braste and Linxio.  
**

* * *

**Helgan**

"You know, there's something I must ask you, Braste."

Braste looked up from her feet at the sound of Linxio's voice. "And what might that be?"

"Why were you caught? I mean, what were you doing? What's your reason for being in Skyrim?" The cat asked without turning her head.

"What's _your_ reason for being in Skyrim?" She joked.

"Oh please not _this_ again!" Lokir moaned. Both of the girls turned and glared at the horse thief, who shrank back after that.

"Anyway," Braste said, turning back to Linxio, who had averted her golden eyes back to the road. "I was…travelling. I guess they thought I was part of the rebellion."

"Travelling, right," she repeated with a nod of her, though Braste could tell that the Khajiit didn't believe her.

"What about you?"

"I'm here because I'm looking for a friend who disappeared 7 years ago," she said with a distant tone. "I found out that he was in Skyrim and came here to find him."

Ralof decided to put in his response. "Is he from Elsweyr like you?"

"I'm not from Elsweyr. I'm from Bravil. Or, at least I'm from a place near Bravil," Linxio replied. "And he's not a Khajiit. He's an Altmer."

"An Altmer?" Ralof scoffed.

"Yeah," she turned to him with a killer look, which scared him and Braste both. "Is there a problem with that? Or are you just racist like every other Nord?"

"Hey, I'm not racist," Braste snapped.

"Says the woman who hates Khajiit accents," Linxio growled, then sighed. "He was my only friend in…Bravil. Actually, my only friend ever. I don't care if any of you are racist or not, he's my friend and I came here to find him. Which is exactly what I intend to do."

_Maybe she isn't as self-centered as I assumed, _Braste thought.

Linxio drove the cart through the stone archway leading into Helgan. Guards were on the walkway above and didn't seem to notice the Khajiit leading the horse and wagon.

"General Tullius!" One of them called. "The headsman is waiting!"

"Good," the general replied with a shout. "Let's get this over with."

"Hey everybody," Linxio called back to the prisoners. "I think I just found out how we're all going to die!"

"_Naaww…_" Braste said sarcastically. "Like he did not just say that."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Ralof remarked in the same tone as Braste.

"You're welcome," the cat said with a smile.

She pulled the cart up to the wall and everyone stood up to get off, with the exception of the driver. An officer walked over to her.

"Clarke, please get down from the cart," the Imperial commanded.

Linxio looked at him. "I'm not Clarke." She grabbed her sword and swiftly decapitated him, then returned the sword to her belt.

Suddenly, a pair of hands dragged her down from the seat by her arm. Another pair grabbed her other arm and they hauled her up to two other officers. She didn't even bother to stand up, so the guards had to use more force to pull her. The female was dressed in gleaming steel armor and had her arms crossed. The man was dressed in the same leather armor that Linxio was dressed in.

"Who are you?" The man asked sternly.

"I'm not Clarke if that's what you're asking." Then paused. "My name is actually Linxio Wyrdfire and I'm from a place in the vicinity of Bravil." She replied.

"You will be charged with the murder of two-" The female officer started.

"Two?" Linxio interrupted with an astonished tone. "I counted four!"

"Four!" Both guards exclaimed with the same tone Linxio had used.

"Yeah, the driver, the one rode up to me, and the one we told me to get off the cart."

The man blinked. "That's only three."

"Oh, right," the cat then proceeded to pull of her sword then thrust it into the guard to her right's chest, who will then fell to the ground "Guess you should have taken the sword from me first."

Braste watched as the female guard went red from fury after that incident. She almost screamed at Linxio to go stand in the line with the rest of the prisoners.

"Such a temper," Linxio said calmly after she got line.

They all then turned their attention and General Tullius and Ulfric.

"Ulfric Stormcloak," The superior officer started "Some here in Helgan call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like the voice to murder the High King and usurp his throne."

Ulfric mumbled something.

Braste was shocked. _Wait, he did what?_

Braste had known Ulfric since they had been children. That was before she ran away when she was 15. She couldn't believe Ulfric had killed High King Torygg, especially with the Voice.

"You started this war, and now the Empire is going to put you down and restore the peace," he said proudly.

A low roar could be heard from the mountains on the horizon. The prisoners and guards looked up when they heard the noise.

"What was that?" the male guard from before asked.

"It was nothing," General Tullius replied. "Carry on."

"Yes, General Tullius," the Imperial woman said. "Give them their last rights."

"As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the eight Divines are upon ye-" the priestess of Arkay started.

A loud Nord, Stormcloak soldier walked up. "Oh for the love of Talos, shut up already and let's get this over with!"

But The priestess dropped hands and looked at the man in an annoyed way. "As you wish."

"Come on, I haven't got all morning." The man said, making his way in front of the chopping block.

The guard shoved the man down into the chopping block. "My ancestors are smiling down at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?"

The red tipped, steel axe came down on the man's neck. People cringed when the weapon made contact and decapitated the man on the block. At this same time, Linxio thought it would be a good idea to sit down.

"What are you doing?" One of the guards asked the Khajiit.

She looked up at him. "I'm sitting down, what does it look like?"

"Get up now." He demanded.

"Why should I?"

"Because you're next," He added the final glare.

"Finally," she rolled her eyes. "At least I won't have to hear your annoying voices after I die."

All of the Imperial guards scowled at her, but she just smiled. They bound her hands once more before they put her down on the block. The headsman lifted the axe above his head, and then swung down towards her neck.

"Wait!" Linxio shouted, lifting her head up from the block. The axe had collided with the stone, creating a metallic clang.

"What do you want?" The Imperial soldier asked, the annoyance evident in her voice.

"I have a very important question!"

"Fine," the guard huffed. "What's your question?"

Linxio paused. "If you die in Sovngarde, what happens to you?"

Everyone looked around and it was quiet. They were each waiting for the answer to that question.

"Um…uh…" the woman stuttered. "Why don't you ask when you get there?"

The Khajiit laid her head back on the rock slab. "OK."

The headsman pull the axe back again, ready to strike again. As he lead the axe in a swooping motion once more, she sat back up again. The axe impacted with the chopping block, and bounced off.

"Wait! I have something else to say!"

The guard put her hands on her hips. "What is it now?"

Linxio turned to Ralof and Braste. "Do you remember how I said we were all going to die?"

They both nodded.

"I think the headsman is going to chop off our heads!" She shouted.

"Are you done?" The woman yelled.

The cat rested her head back on the block. "Yes."

The headsman rolled his eyes and tried again, but then she moved.

"Wait!" she cried.

"Shut up already!" The guard shoved Linxio back down onto the block.

The axe fell towards her head, but then she moved so that her bound hands were where her head would have been. The axe cut through the rope and her hands were free.

"Oh yeah!" She cheered.

"Quit your stalling and let's get on with it!"

"OK."

She laid her head back on the block and waited for the axe. Suddenly she pointed behind the headsman and shouted.

"Look, look!" she said enthusiastically.

The headsman turned around to see what she was pointing at. When he did this, the cat swiftly kicked him in the back and he fell to the ground, dropping his axe. Linxio laughed, but the captain was not amused.

"If you don't stop with the jokes and tricks, I will cut your head off myself!" The woman screamed.

Linxio held up her hands in defense. "OK OK. I'll stop."

The captain pushed her back down onto the block and held her there. The executioner stood up and brushed off his black clothing. He was really fed up with her now.

"Look, look! I see it now!"

General Tullius decided to cut in. "You're not being funny. Chop her head off already!"

"Hey, if I'm going to die," she said. "I'd like it to be before that thing in the sky does it himself."

Everyone spun around and gazed at the sky. It crossed past the sun, blocking it out with its large, leathery wings. It raced towards the town below with a roar that shook the ground under them. People started running, while others just stared at them massive behemoth.

"What in Oblivion is that?" General Tullius shouted.

Braste took a step back when the creature landed on the tower in front of them. It loomed over them with the power and dignity only one of the Divines could seem to invoke. "It's a dragon!"

"I told you all we were going to die!" Linxio called out.

"Oh would you just shut up already?" The female guard screamed.

* * *

**Ok, so the Helgen thing is going to go on for another chapter. I know it's extensive, but I just wanted to finish this chapter.**

**Next time:  
**

**_Cats and fire do not mix._  
**


	4. III: A Questionable Idea

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn**_

**So I was getting sick of writing this chapter and decided to end it on a happy note. I hope you laugh at the end, because I did. (Then I think of how stupid it is and laugh some more.)**

**(I also changed what Braste said at the end, just so you know. That's why the chapter's name is changed.)  
**

**_Disclaimer_: I do not own Skyrim. (Y'all know that) I own Braste and Linxio. (Though it's illegal in the USA to own people.  
**

* * *

**Helgan**

Braste stared at the giant, ebony beast that seemed to make the tower look like a child's toy. He looked at everyone cowering under him with a menacing pride. He let out a low, throaty snarl before he opened his mouth. He roared-no, _shouted_-causing the ground to shake under them. Braste stumbled backwards, but didn't fall.

She looked up. The sky had formed dreary, dark clouds that clotted out the sun. They swirled like a tornado and released their fury with their fieryboulders that knocked down everything in the chosen path. One almost hit her, but she had moved away quickly to avoid the hit.

The Nord looked over at Linxio, who had taken the headsman's axe and was shouting at the dragon.

"You think I'm scared of you, you stupid lizard?" The cat yelled while the monstrous being stared at her with a look that marked her as insane. "Yeah, I'm talking to you! Come and take me on!"

Braste sprinted towards the woman. She yelled at her to stop, but Linxio just kept screaming insults and threats at the giant lizard. He lifted up his head and prepared to send a burst of fire in her direction, hoping to burn her to a chard. He felt the fire inside his throat rise and before he could no longer hold it, he let it out.

_YOL!_

The blaze exploded on the ground and burnt everything near it. The dragon was pleased and let go of the tower in search of more mortals to destroy.

Braste lifted herself out of the dirt into a sitting position and Linxio did the same after grabbing the two-handed weapon then asked: "What just happened?"

"I shoved you out of the way before that dragon scorched you." Braste said without any kind of tone.

"Oh," The cat said, standing up and offering a hand to Braste. "Thank you."

Braste took her hand and pulled herself up. Something like burning hair caught her nose with its scent. "Do you smell that?"

Linxio sniffed the air. "Yeah, I do." Then she looked down at her leg, which was ablaze.

"DANG IT! I'M ON FIRE!" She screamed, running around while trying to put the fire on her leg out.

_Moron,_ Braste thought, then started digging around frantically in her satchel for something that might help. She grabbed a potion and tossed it to the screeching cat. "Here! Try this!"

Linxio caught the potion and tore off the stopper. She poured it onto her leg, but that only worked as an accelerant for the flame. She threw the bottle back at the Nord. "THAT DIDN'T WORK, YOU IDIOT!"

"You were supposed to drink it, moron! Not pour it on your leg!" She yelled back.

"FIGURE SOMETHING ELSE OUT AND QUICKLY BEFORE I BURN TO DEATH!"

Braste thought as fast as she could for anything that might help. An idea popped into her head and she held out her hands. A wave of ice flew towards Linxio, who fell on her face.

"Thanks." She said, somewhat muffled by the ground.

"Hey," the brunette woman rushed over to help her up. "At least I put out the fire."

"By freezing my leg?" She grunted as Braste pulled her up by the arm. "Yeah, brilliant plan."

"Oh, quit you're whining." The Nord looked up to the sky. "Let's just focus on getting out of here."

Linxio looked around. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

Braste scanned the wreckage, then held out her hand to use _clairvoyance_. A line of light made its way towards one of the towers.

"Through there," she said, pointing at the stone building. "Come on, I highly doubt the divines will give us another chance." She started running towards it.

"Yeah,doesn't seem like they like me anyway." Linxio muttered, grabbing the headsman's axe and running after the other woman.

They broke the doors and found Ulfric, Ralof, and a few injured Stormcloak soldiers. They all stared at the pair who had just run in.

"So the Khajiit lives," Ralof laughed as they came in.

Linxio glared at him and grabbed his armor. "I told you not to call me Khajiit!"

He held up his hands in defense. "Oh, right, you did."

She let go of him and looked at Ulfric. "You with the face, how do we get out of here?"

It was Ulfric's turn to glare.

"His name is Ulfric, moron, and he's the Jarl of Windhelm. You should at least treat him with _some_ respect." Braste hissed in the cat's ear.

"I don't care if he's the son of Akatosh," Linxio growled in a low tone. "I just want to get out of here, so shut up idiot. Anyway," she turned back to the Jarl. "How do we get out of here?"

Ulfric sighed. "We were just trying to figure that out."

"Tell me when you do," she started, walking towards the stairs. "Because I'm going upstairs to look for myself."

Braste rolled her eyes and then went after her. "Wait for me."

They reached the top of the stone stairs and found a man throwing some of the boulders around.

"If we can just move a few of these rocks-" He started.

Suddenly, a giant, ebony scaled head burst through the wall, making the whole building shake and causing the two women to fall back down the stairs. The dragon looked around, eyeing everything in theaccommodation. To Braste, he seemed even bigger than before. To Linxio, it would have been a perfect time to chop off his head with her axe. He let out another bout of fire before flying off. Linxio had gotten up and started running after him. She stopped after reaching the edge of the fortification's gaping hole.

"Hey! Come back here! I'm not done with you!" She called out, raising her weapon in the air. She looked down at the building below, then made a running jump for it.

"Wait up!" Braste hollered to her after watching her land on the burning inn's second floor. "Moron," she mumbled to herself before also jumping down.

They didn't run very far before they came upon the monster again. The great wings ceased their beat and he landed on the stone pathway. He arched his head back and prepared to kill the scrambling Imperial soldiers in front of him. Linxio held her axe firmly in both hands, then started waving it above her head.

"Hey you big, stupid, good for nothing oversized reptile! Over here!" She shouted.

The dragon turned his head quickly in her direction and narrowed his eyes. He let out a low snarl, then opened his mouth to let out another blast of fire.

"Uh oh," The cat muttered, staring at the flames without a single movement. Fortunately, Braste grabbed her arm and yanked the both of them out of the line of fire before Linxio got burned. Again.

They landed on the hard ground right as the fire went past. Braste and Linxio felt the heat of the inferno as it barely brushed past their bodies. The black creature let out a snarl, then took off again.

The Nord sat up and glared at the woman next to her. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No," She replied, propping herself up with one elbow. "I just like to annoy people who are stronger than me. I love making them angry."

Braste rolled her eyes, then got up off the ground. She grabbed Linxio's hand and helped her stand back up. "Let's just focus on getting out of here instead of trying to make the dragon furious."

"Ok," The cat said, looking around. "Which way now?"

"Uh…" She held up her hand and casted _clairvoyance_ again. The light twisted across the ruins and through a caved in building. She pointed towards it. "That way."

"Thanks for the update, do you think I'm blind?" Linxio growled, then ran in the direction she pointed.

Braste sighed and hurried after her.

.-.-.

**Helgan Keep**

They entered a circular, stone chamber with moss growing up the walls that were adorned with a few tattered, black and red flags. Two metal cage doors were present on either side of thearea. A table was set across from the door they came through and a man dressed in navy blue armor was lying limply against one of the chairs next to it.

"So which way do we go now?" Linxio asked when they got to the center of the room, ignoring the dead man. Then she quickly added: "And no magic. Let's try our luck and hope for the best."

"Ok," Braste said, looking back and forth between both doors, also ignoring the man. She pointed to the one on their right. "How about that one?"

"No, no, no," The dark gray cat shook her head. "That's not how you choose between two options."

"Fine, how would you do it?" The Nord questioned with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Give me a coin," She replied, holding out her clawed hand. Braste searched her satchel for a Septim, then handed one over to the half-Khajiit cautiously. She curled her thumb behind her forefinger and placed the coin on it.

"This side is the right door," Linxio pointed to the side of the coin facing up. "The other side is the left."

"Are you serious?" Braste looked at her dumbfounded. "You're going to flip a coin?"

"Yep, it's the only way I can choose." She nicked the Septim with her thumb and let it fly into the air. They watched the golden circle twirl and spin, then come back down. The cat-woman caught it in her hand and placed it on the back of the other one. She moved her hand. "The left door. We take the left door."

_I can't believe this, _Braste thought to herself while she and Linxio walked towards the metal bars of the left-hand gate. The cat grabbed the iron bars and pulled on them. They jerked a bit, but didn't budge from their place.

"Yeah, the left door," The brunette Nord crossed her arms in annoyance. "That's _so _going to work."

She glared at her. "Shut up, I never _said _it was going to open."

An eruption of voices came down the hallway behind the gate, startling the two, and they seemed to be advancing towards them.

"Great, maybe they could help." Braste sighed happily.

"Yeah, they can help," Linxio remarked sarcastically. "We're marked as prisoners; I think they'd rather kill us on the spot."

The woman frowned. "You're right."

"Here," The cat held out her axe. "Take this."

She warily took the weapon from her. "What's this for?"

A smile crossed Linxio's face. "I have an idea, and go get that dead guy's armor."

.-.-.

"Hurry up with the gate already!" The female guard commanded.

"I'm trying to, captain." The man pulled down hard on the lever, making the bars fly up into the ceiling with a metallic clang. "There."

They had only gotten a few feet under the archway when something appeared abruptly in front of their faces, making them jump back in surprise.

"Hello!" An upside down Linxio said cheerily with a huge grin on her face. The captain exchanged her scared look for a glare.

"You're the loudmouth from before, aren't you?" She said angrily.

"Why yes I am," The cat replied with the same stupid smile slapped on her face. "And now I am blocking you're way."

"I see that, would you please move?" The captain started tapping her foot.

"I will," She jeered. "Once you tell me the password."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Oh, wrong answer. You get two more tries."

The Imperial moved her hands to her hips. "I order you to move this instant!"

"Wrong again." Linxio shook her head, making her hair stir below her head. "One more time."

The female soldier pulled out her sword and took a swing at the Khajiit, who pulled her head up before the blade hit her.

"Feisty!" She exclaimed, sticking her head back to where they could see her. The Imperial swung again and Linxio moved away from the hit. "Missed me!"

"I'm going to kill you!" The captain shouted, trying once more.

"Ooo, I'm sorry. That's the wrong answer." She stuck her head back down. "The correct answer was 'I'm a fluffy bunny'. Good day, and good bye."

"Good bye?" The woman muttered, before a red tipped, steel blade decapitated her and the other man.

"I can't believe that actually worked." Braste said, walking in front of the entryway.

Linxio dropped down next to her. "Of course it did, now let's get out of here."

* * *

**Yes, it's true. The correct answer to everything is 'I'm a fluffy bunny'. Everyone knows that.  
**

**(_Idiot._) (_Moron._)  
**

**(Ok, I admit I was slightly hyper when I wrote this).  
**

**Yes, the first quest will go on for one more chapter. It will end in the next one, I promise.  
**

**Next Time:**

**_WE ARE FREE! (Told you I would end it)  
_**


	5. IV: Lack of Understanding

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn**_

**HOLA MI AMIGOS! :D So, I finished this chapter and will now immediately start working on the next one.  
**

**Ok, in this chapter, we learn what they think of each other, and what really happened to Linxio's face! :)  
**

**_Disclaimer: _Bethesda owns Skyrim. I control Braste and Linxio. ;) Haha  
**

* * *

**Caves under Helgan**

Linxio was probably the most interesting person Braste had ever met. She picked locks like a master and she seemed like she never took anything serious, not even fighting.

"Missed me, missed me, guess you can't best me!" The cat jeered in a sing-song voice, running from the attacking Imperial.

In fact, she acted like it was all fun and games for the first part of their battle in the hazy cave past the torture room. That was until they started calling her names.

"Get back here Khajiit!" The man yelled. Linxio immediately stopped where she was, then slowly turned around.

Her chest was rising and falling quickly, fire blazing in her eyes. "Don't. Call. Me." She pulled the steel axe from her back and held it firm in both hands. "_Khajiit!_" The weapon sailed towards the soldier's side, nearly chopping his body in half. She looked at the other Imperials and made a sound somewhat like a roar. She hacked away at the soldiers as she charged for them.

_I can't tell if I should cheer for her, or fear her, _Braste began to wonder.

"I'm…only…half…Khajiit!" She yelled angrily between swings.

By the time Linxio got done, each Imperial was either missing an arm or a leg, or both, or their head, or all three. She was coated with blood, but didn't seem to be hurt. At the sight of this, Braste could only utter one word.

"Wow."

The cat stopped breathing so heavily and stared at the Nord blankly, then gave her a huge grin which made the woman take a few steps back. Linxio rolled her amber eyes. "Oh, come on. I'm not going to kill you." She started walking towards the exit. "Not yet anyway."

Yep, Linxio was by far the most interesting person Braste had ever met.

.-.-.

Linxio did not understand Braste. She took everything so, _seriously._ It's as if she couldn't see the fun in anything. Sure, the cat was raised in quite a fun place, being what it was and all, but she knew other people had fun. Right? Didn't other people have fun? Or was it just her? Her father had fun, so did her friends, but do people in Skyrim have fun? Or is life just too serious to have fun?

These thoughts raced through her head as she watched Braste make her way down carefully down the steady stream in the adjacent cave of the one before this. Linxio had already rushed ahead, though she slipped on the rocks many times. At least she got a laugh from it, unlike the Nord who just kept quiet.

That's something else Linxio notice about her. She's not very friendly and very stubborn. In fact, she's kind of a jerk.

"Do you need any help?" The cat asked as she watched a giant Frostbite spider knock the woman to the ground.

"I don't need any help!" She snapped, sticking her sword she grabbed before through the arachnid's abdomen. "I don't even know why I let you drag me into this. I should have stayed with those Stormcloaks."

Correction: She _is_ a jerk.

There was also something else that she did not understand about Braste, and that was how she kept her past such a secret. It became evident to her when they came across a bear sleeping in the next cave.

Braste, without saying a word, crouched low to the ground and started moving towards it.

"Braste!" Linxio hissed. "What are you doing?"

She didn't even turn around.

The Nordic woman continued forward towards the animal, which had its back to her. Something golden glinted in her hand. It was smaller than her sword; it didn't even seem to be as big as a dagger.

_What is she going to do, kill it with a Septim? _

She plunged the, whatever it was, into the bear's spine. It jerked its head up and let out a strangled cry, then fell back down motionless. Braste pulled the, thing, out of the dead animal's back and stuck it in her fur boots she took from the corpse in the first room, then stood up.

Linxio just blinked when Braste looked back at her. "What?"

"What the heck did you just kill it with?" The half-Khajiit asked.

"It was something…my family…gave me before I left." The woman lowered her head. Her sadness was evident in her voice as she thought back to them.

"Is it a family heirloom or something?"

"No. It's just a gift. For…doing something." She started walking off like she wanted to drop the conversation.

Linxio, not really knowing when she should stop asking questions, (and also for being nosy), decided to push on with the topic. "What'd you do?"

Braste stopped and turned back towards the cat. "That's really none of your business."

"I know," she walked up to the Nord. "But I'm making it that way."

"Drop it already. I don't feel like talking about it." She huffed, walking away.

Yep, Linxio did not understand Braste at all.

.-.-.

Linxio hurried after her. "So you don't want to talk about that? Okay then. What happened to your face?"

"Oh shut up." The woman snapped, still walking.

"I'm serious! What really happened? I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about what happen to yours."

Braste stopped, which made the half-Khajiit also stop. "It's a birthmark. That simple," _Especially since I'm lying through my teeth, _she thought to herself as she started walking away again, not really expecting the other girl to tell her what happened.

There was a slight moment of complete silence before she did respond.

"My mother clawed me."

The Nord ceased her stride and turned back towards Linxio, who had her eyes cast down.

"Linxio, you don't-" Braste started.

"It wasn't really a big deal." She said with fake, nervous laugh. "Well, my father thought it was. Or at least, he thought the poison she put on her claws was. He even went all out looking for an antidote, thinking it would kill me."

The cat looked so small and vulnerable now. "Did he find it? The antidote." _Wow, what a stupid question._

She shook her head. "It wasn't supposed to kill me."

Braste cocked her head to the side a bit. "What was it supposed to do?"

"Change what I look like."

"Why would your mother do that?"

Linxio shrugged. A silence crept through the cave and surrounded them. Encasing them in its noiseless grasp.

"Why are you telling me all of this? We hardly know each other." Braste stated in a somewhat hushed voice.

The half-Khajiit looked up at the Nord. "I thought it would be nice to tell someone…normal." An almost forced smile spread on her face. "C'mon, let's get out of here already. I want to see daylight again before I go blind like the Falmer." She started hurrying down the cave corridor past Braste.

_Normal? What does she mean by normal?_ She thought before realizing the other escapee was running past her. "Hey, wait up!"

.-.-.

**Outside of Helgan**

Beams of warm sunlight shone down on the pair emerging from the cave. It was a welcome sight to the both of them, even if they had to shut their eyes for a moment while they adjusted to it.

Linxio fell to her knees and threw her hands up into the air. "SUNLIGHT! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, then opened her eyes and let her arms fall back to the ground. "WHY IS IT SO FREAKIN' COLD?"

"Because you're in Skyrim," Braste stated dryly, grabbing the Khajiit's arm and pulling her to a standing position.

"Right, I'm in Skyrim." She paused. "Why am I in Skyrim? Oh, right. My friend."

The Nord blinked. "Do you have memory problems or something?"

Linxio glowered at her. "My memory is just fine, thank you very much!"

"Are you sure? Because-" A roar erupted in the sky behind them, cutting Braste off. She spun around with her sword in hand just as the midnight black dragon flew off towards the mountains on the far horizon. "Stupid dragon," she muttered, sheathing her weapon and turning back to Linxio, only to find she wasn't there anymore. "Linxio?"

"Still here." A familiar voice replied, but Braste couldn't figure out where it came from. She looked around for the girl, though it was useless. Either she wasn't showing herself, or she was hiding in plain sight and the Nord was just too stupid to see her.

"Where are you?" She asked, still searching for the black cat.

"Hold on, it'll wear off in a second." She finished her sentence just as her gray fur started reappearing again. She still wore the leather Imperial armor and the steel axe was strapped to her back.

"Did you turn yourself invisible?" Braste questioned.

"Naw…" The cat replied sarcastically, receiving a scowl from the brunette woman. Linxio smiled. "So, where are we going?"

The Nord replaced her frown with a dumbfounded look. "We?

* * *

**Poor Braste. She has to deal with crazy Linxio some more.**

**Ok, we get more into Linxio's life some more later. Like, _REALLY_ into it. But that's later.  
**

**Next Time:**

**_What do you mean I'm not allowed in the city?_  
**


	6. V: A Fight Won, A Fight Lost

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn**_

**Hey everyone! So, I've got a new chapter and I had no inspiration! :D**

**Thankfully, a wonderful person (aka. Blue Dartwing) was there to help me. She always seems to know what I should do.  
**

**Onto the story!  
**

**_Disclaimer:_ I don't own Skyrim, that's Bethesda's awesome idea they created in their game creation place. I created (in my evil scientist lab) Linxio and Braste.  
**

* * *

**Outside of Whiterun**

_Like I said before, all Nords are racist._ Linxio thought as she stood alone in front of the two yellow armored soldiers guarding the gate doors to Whiterun. Braste had left for another hold after showing the cat the way on her map. Even though it seemed like they were only in Helgen for a few hours or so, the sun had started setting a bit earlier.

"Sorry, Khajiits aren't allowed in the city." The one on her left said firmly.

She let out a barely audible growl and crossed her arms. "I have news from Helgan."

"Doesn't matter," the one on the right stated. "No Khajiits in the city."

_I NOT A KHAJIIT! I'M ONLY HALF KHAJIIT YOU IDIOT!_She desperately wanted to scream at them, but settled for something else that sat neatly in a cloth bag within her satchel. "Will this change your mind?" She asked, pulling out quite a hefty bag of coins.

The guards exchanged glances then held open one of the large wood doors. "Right then, have a nice time in Whiterun."

She walked past them and pressed the coin purse into one of the soldier's hands, leaving it up to them to divide it.

Whiterun was just like Helgan. Wood and stone. _Everything_ was made of wood and stone. Why couldn't they make their buildings out of something else? Then again, there wasn't anything else they could build it out of.

As Linxio walked down the streets, she could feel judging eyes following her and it started to make her uncomfortable. She stared back at everyone who seemed to be staring at her and gave them disgusted looks. They would stop watching after that, but one person was the exception to that.

They locked eyes and she just couldn't tear away from his. Neither could he.

"What are you staring at?" She hissed.

"You're not supposed to be here, Khajiit." He stated coldly, not moving from the wall he was leaning on.

"So I've been told." The cat crossed her arms and stared the Nord man down.

"I think I should show you the way out, or do you know how to use a door?" He pushed off the wall and walked towards her.

She strode towards him as well, letting her arms fall to her sides. "I fact I do, that's how I got in here."

"Maybe I should refresh your memory on just how to." He continued to advance towards her.

"Are you threatening me?" They stood only inches apart from each other, the Nord man looking down at her and the half-Khajiit looking up at him.

"And if I am?" He countered.

"I can take you on right here, right now. A hundred gold says I can take you down in three hits."

"You couldn't take me out in four."

"'Cause four would kill you. Do you take the bet?"

Without the slightest hesitation, he replied. "I take the bet, but no weapons or using those claws of yours."

"I don't need 'em." As soon as she finished her sentence, her fist impacted with his jaw. A crimson spray of blood came from his mouth. He spun a bit to the left and bent over somewhat. _That's one, _she thought.

"Well don't you just pack a punch, missy." He looked at her and smiled through bloody teeth. He, in turn, brought back his own fist. He lunged forward, but she dodged the attack before he did hit her. She brought up her clenched hand and thrust it into his gut as he passed by her. _Two, _she counted as he doubled over next to her. _One more to go, and that's all I'm going to need._

She brought up her hand and cracked it on his back. His knees buckled under him, making the Nord fall to the ground.

"_Three._" Linxio hissed, taking the amount he wagered off his body. She turned to walk away, but then looked back at the struggling man. "Oh, and I'm only half-Khajiit." She turned and started walking.

This time, the eyes watched her with astonishment and continued all the way to Dragonsreach.

.-.-.

**Windhelm Gates**

Braste lingered somewhat to the side under the final stone archway in front of the large wooden entryways. A bone chilling wind brushed idly by, making her shiver and wish she had some better clothing than what she had taken from a bandit hideout a while back. Not that it would exactly help her in this type of wind.  
I remember this wind. The cold breeze that swept by unnoticed by others, but always gave me the chills, the Nordic woman thought.

Windhelm, the city she was born and raised in for 17 years. Her home, not just the house she lived in, but the city. Then five traumatic events turned her whole life around, incidents that completely ruined her life there. Nothing was the same, as would nothing ever be the same again.  
Yet she somehow felt drawn back to this place. As if she thought it still could go back to the way it was before those life changing affairs.

_Who are you kidding, it's been eleven years. No one remembers you. That's all the more reason to go back though, isn't it? I could start over, be someone different. In fact, I am already someone different. Everything could go back to the way it was._ She stopped this pointless train of thought._ Yeah right. Nothing can go back to the way it was before, no matter how hard I tried. And there is someone I could never hide myself from. Someone who could pick me out of a crowd in an instant._  
_Actually, there are several people who could do that. I could burn off my face and they would still know who I was._

Braste stood staring at the double doors motionless for a few more seconds before moving. Her feet acted before her brain could and she started walking towards the city gates. She didn't even try to change her path; she just kept going. One of the guards said something, but she didn't hear it. She hastily pushed the oversized doors open, and as she let them swing shut behind her, a single thought crossed her mind:

_Coming back here was such a bad idea._

One step into the city and the Nord woman was overcome with painful memories. Several scenes were familiar to her, but only five were as clear as the day they happened, five that she would carry around with her for her whole life.

A familiar paper told her where to go and what to do, but the one time she refused. One small choice that caused the dreadful domino train to fall and could not be set up again.

Her mother and father's horrified expressions, frozen on their faces. Streaks of scarlet coated the wall behind them.

Her older sister walking through town, so many things had been on her mind. The snow mixed with a deep crimson.

A flash of midnight fur and burning eyes, the tearing of flesh and snapping of bones with the iron claws. The animal instinct emitting from the heart and into the blood stream.

That last glimpse of her younger sister, running from the man with the bloody dagger. Ruby tears flowed down her cheeks.

The flood of the memories coming back all at once was just too much for Braste to handle. Through all of it, the verses of a song her mother sang to her echoed through her head, haunting her. It made the air around her icier and froze the potential tears in her blue eyes. She couldn't take it anymore, but it was impossible to move her legs which she thought would collapse under her.

Caught up in the emotional strife and the recollections, Braste didn't notice the guard next to her. The blue armored woman touched her shoulder, making Braste jump and jerk away from the touch.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked with a thick Nordic accent. She placed her hand back on Braste's shoulder. "By the Divines, you're freezing! Here let me take you to Candlehearth Hall. You'll die our here if you stay out much longer."

At first, she about rejected the offer, but then felt the needles of the cold digging into her skin. She allowed the guard to escort her there.

* * *

**Once again, poor Braste. She has a horrible past life.****  
**

**Now, I really want to know what you all thought the memories were about, so please feel free to say what you thought!  
**

**Next Time:  
**

**_Yes, I was at Helgen. Why is that so hard to believe?  
_**

**and_  
_**

**_Recollections of a dreadful past  
_**


	7. VI: Dragonsreach

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn**_

**I hate this chapter! :D I absolutely hated writing it! Well, when it got to Braste's part. Linxio is SO easy to write about. I come up with so many ideas for her!**

**Then there's Braste, who even I find boring. How the heck do you write about a character you hate? Easy, you realize you can't have one without the other. Linxio is not complete without Braste, and Braste cannot live without Linxio.**

**Anyway, sorry about the super late update. I went on a fishing trip and have just been very busy. Plus the fact it takes me forever to write anyway. **

**Hope you enjoy! Oh, and for all of you who skip II: The Headsman's Axe, please go back and read it. I really don't care if the Helgen stuff is tedious, it takes forever to write into such detail!**

_**Disclaimer:**_** I don't own Skyrim, sadly. Bethesda does. I own hilarious Linxio and stupid Braste. :P I love you anyway Braste.**

* * *

**Dragonsreach**

The doors of the building exploded with noise that probably woke up half the city. Iron boots clacked across the floor, along with the shuffle of armor. Accompanying those noises was the dragging of feet. Walking down the main corridor were two guards donned in yellow, dragging an uncooperative Khajiit by her arms.

"You two are not as easily persuaded as the gate guards, are you?" Linxio asked as they group approached the stairs.

"No." The thick accented female said as she and the other soldier recklessly hauled the cat up the staircase.

"I didn't think so." She landed hard on the steps after a bounce. "_Ow_."

"Well maybe if you would stand up you wouldn't hurt yourself, now would you?" The man questioned dryly.

"Maybe," Linxio countered when they reached the top of the steps. A dark elf dressed in what looked like leather armor walked towards the group. Her red hair was pulled slightly, making the enraged look on her face clearly visible.

"What is the meaning of this?" The elf looked at Linxio. "Why is this Khajiit in the city?"

"_Half_-Khajiit. I'm only half-Khajiit." She corrected. "Thus forth, I have half a right to be here"

The woman glared. "It doesn't matter." She motioned at the guards. "Let her go." The two guards dropped the cat, who fell to the floor with a thud. "Stand up, state your full name, where you're from, and why you are here."

Linxio stood up and shook her head a bit. "My name is Linxio Wyrdfire, I'm hail from somewhere in the vicinity of Bravil," she pointed to the Jarl. "And I want to inform blondie over there about what happened at Helgen."

"Blondie?" The armored elf repeated with a dumbfounded look.

"Yeah, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to proceed with my plan." The half-Khajiit sidestepped the speechless Housecarl and headed for the Jarl. "Hey blondie! I need to speak with you!"

"Uh…" the Jarl stuttered, somewhat dumbstruck by the sight of a Khajiit in front of him and from what she called him. "Yes, what is it?"

"I have news from Helgen!"

"You came from Helgen?" The Nord asked.

"Sure, we'll say that." Linxio replied, receiving a confused look from the man.

He dismissed the confusion with a shake of his head. "So you saw the dragon?"

"Indeed I did, I had a wonderful view of it when the Imperials were trying to cut off my head."

The Jarl gave a laugh. "You are certainly forthright about your criminal past."

"You don't know the half of it." Linxio smiled, making him a bit worried.

.-.-.

After an hour or so of explaining, convincing, and getting off track, Linxio had finally clarified the events of Helgen.

"My lord," The Dark Elf, whose name was Irileth as Linxio had learned, started. "We should send troops to Riverwood at once. It is in the most immediate danger. If that dragon is lurking in the mountains-"

Proventus cut in. "The Jarl of Falkreath will view it as a provocation. He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him."

"Shut up, balding! No one caresabout your opinion!" Linxio shouted, receiving a glare from the steward. She pointed at Irileth. "And you bossy, it's very obvious Riverwood is in the most immediate danger, don't you think blondie over here thought of that?"

Everyone stared at her speechlessly. They were mostly shocked about how carelessly she went about name-calling the nobles.

The Jarl was the first to speak. "Uh, yes…boss – I mean Irileth," the Dark Elf shot him a scowl. "Send a detachment to Riverwood at once."

"Yes blond – my Jarl." She walked away in somewhat of an embarrassed state.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties." The steward stated.

"That would be best, baldin - Proventus." The Jarl shook his head, then turned to Linxio. "You sought me out on your own terms, and you've done Whiterun a service. I won't forget it."

The half-Khajiit crossed her arms. "You better not, blondie."

The Jarl smiled. "There is another thing you can do for me. Suitable for someone with your, particular talents, perhaps? Come; let's go find Forengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into a matter related to these dragons, and… rumors of dragons."

.-.-.

"Forengar, I think I've found someone who could help you with your…dragon project."

The man dressed in black robes looked up at the sound of Balgruuf's voice.

"Go ahead and fill her in with all the details." Linxio walked and stood next to the wizard.

"So what's this about, Fire?" She put her arm around his shoulders. "Can I call you Fire?"

Forengar stared at her, bemused. "_Fire_? No, you can't-"

"Good, good. Now, Fire, what's going on?" Linxio smiled at him. Forengar looked over to Balgruuf for help.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked warily.

"I'm sure." The Jarl smiled.

Linxio looked over at him with the same stupid grin she gave the wizard. "Of course you are blondie!"

Forengar stared at the ground in a very confused state. "_Blondie?"_

.-.-.

**Candlehearth Hall**

Braste sat with a tankard clutched in both hands and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Though it was warm in here, she still shivered violently. It seemed impossible to be warm with all those memories clinging to her soul as if to suffocate it. The horrible recollections were enough to break her if she had been anyone else.

She took a deep breath. _Calm yourself. You are Braste Dawnvictor and that is the past. You forgot the past, remember? You don't have a past anymore. It was lost long ago, as were the people in it. As were the people in it,_ she repeated. _As were all the people in the past. They no longer exist, and you no longer exist to them either. Just try and get out of here before any of those people see you, lest they start to remember your face. _

The building was as quiet as Braste was cold. Even the silent air seemed to add to her chill. It was grief that had struck her when the memories came back. But then there was something else that came with it. Anger for what the people did, shock from the sting of the memories, guilt for not being able to save them, and something else that Braste could not grasp as a thought.

_Regret_.

What she had done was intentional, but she couldn't help feeling that what she did was wrong. If she hadn't done what she had done though, her family would still be alive and she would have never had to start running. But then again, he would be dead.

_Which is better, losing four people you love? Or losing the one you were closest to?_ Braste thought. _Though, now that I think about it, I still lost all of them. I'm the reason they're all dead or missing. And I bet he doesn't even know I'm alive. Wait, he might. He saw me at Helgen. Or did he know it was me? He never said anything to me. Of course, there wasn't that much time to actually talk. _She sat up a bit, not shaking as bad as before. _There is a way to find out if he does know that I'm not dead. _

The Nord woman stood up when the shaking stopped, then turned back to the bed. _Tomorrow, I'll find out tomorrow._

* * *

**Ok. That's where I end it. Short chapter, I know. I just couldn't write any more about Braste. I wanted to kill myself right then when I started writing it. She causes major writer's block.**

**Next time:**

_**Die, dead man! **_

**and **

_**The time for remembering comes now.  
**_


	8. VII: Living Dead Man

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn**_

**Yes, it's true, I have finished another chapter! Plus I've got some news about 'Boot Camp'!**

**_Good News:_  
**

**Ideas and I got to meet up.  
**

**We found Muse alive!  
**

**And Maj. Writer's Block is letting up on the pushups!  
**

**_Bad News:_  
**

**We only got to see each other for five seconds and all he said was follow the game's story line. :\  
**

**Muse is not in the state of mind for any good break thrus.  
**

**And Maj. Writer's Block is now making me do obstacle courses. Yayy.. :(  
**

**Any who, I'm wasting your time. READ!  
**

**_Disclaimer:_ I don't own Skyrim. I do own Linxio and Braste.  
**

* * *

**Bleakfalls Barrow**

_I came to a bunch of old ruins in search of a chunk of rock, and here I am face to face with a now deceased spider's next meal who may or may not know how to get out of here,_ Linxio, now adorned in iron armor, thought as she stared at the web entangled Dunmer thief.

"Are you gonna cut me down or what?" He asked, twisting and turning in his lace-like cocoon.

The smoky gray cat tapped her chin with her finger. "Maybe. I don't know. I'm not a big fan of your attitude."

"My attitude?!" The dark elf shouted.

"Yeah, I usually don't help people with bad attitudes. So lighten up or I'll cut off your head and maybe a few other body parts." She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. He swallowed hard.

"Fine, I'll help you. Now cut me down!" He twisted around a bit more. Linxio drew her axe that she had taken from Helgen and started to hack at the webs. But, something was amiss, like something was telling her not to trust the elf. She stopped. "What? Why are you stopping?" He asked demandingly. She looked at him, then drew the axe back as if she was going to start cutting the webs again.

Let's assume she…for lack of a better word…missed.

The lacey nettings flowed slowly down as the Dunmer's body hit the floor and its head rolled away. The half-Khajiit started searching the body and grabbed anything she figured had value, including a golden claw. She turned it over and over in her hands, trying to guess what it was. She finally shrugged and put it in her satchel, then sidestepped the body and continued forward.

She came to a half circle shaped room filled with urns and pots. She smiled and thought, _Oh the fun I will have looting this place._ Linxio searched around in the containers and even though there wasn't much in them, she was content with what she got.

Afterwards, she traveled through another small room to find a strange looking corridor. Holes were carved into the old stone walls with pieces of worn cloth lining them.

"What the heck?" She shouted looking around. She heard a moaning sound coming from the bigger part of the area and saw a skeletal figure emerging from one of the carved out beds, causing her to pull out her axe. "By the Divines, I've woken the dead!"

.-.-.

"Can't you just fall down and die already?!" The cat shouted, plunging her axe into a Draugr's backside. It fell to the ground with a sickly thud next to the others Linxio had taken down previously. She bent down next to them. "And now for my reward," she started searching the ancient Nord's body for whatever she saw of value. After she was through, she stood up and saw something protruding from the ground that kind of looked like a pressure plate. She eyed it inquisitively as she walked over to it.

"Interesting," the half-Khajiit said. Due to her curiosity and lack of respect for the dead, she heaved one of the bodies over to it and threw it onto the button. Before the whole embalmed corpse even hit the ground, a large gate-like door swung around and smacked the carcass clear across the room. Linxio stared at the body with wide eyes, then at the door.

"The Door of Death, how…comforting." Linxio commented as she sidestepped the button and went deeper into the barrow.

She traveled down a short, crumbling corridor and found yet another room full of Draugr waiting for her. They crawled out of their homes carved into the stone and drew their weapons as the lurched towards the cat.

"This again? More undead?" She stood there for a second in awe and anger before drawing out her axe once again. "Alright then, if you want a fight, you're gonna get one, you stupid zombie people." The smoky-gray cat swung with all her might at the first Dragur to her left, hitting its shoulder and causing the ancient Nord to fall to the ground. A hit came from behind, making the cat stumble before spinning around with her own weapon and almost slicing the zombies side when the undead creature she had hit just earlier shoved the other one out of the way. It fell once more to the ground after taking the blow and didn't get back up. The Dragur on her right, which seemed to be a female, was even more furious and started violently hacking its ancient battle axe at Linxio, as did another zombie with a sword on her left that came out of nowhere at her. With only two more tries, the half-Khajiit took down the female-like zombie on her right. The other one on her right received a strike to the knees and to the shoulder, making it crumble to the ground next to the other corpses.

Linxio grabbed a potion and drank it after the small battle in order to heal herself as she check the corpses for anything she saw of value, then started walking again. Though she didn't walk for long. The hallway which she figured was the way out was not as she suspected.

"First the Door of Death, and now the Hall of Doom? Were the Nords really _that_ protective of their dead?" She muttered to herself as she eyed the blades swinging back and forth down the hall warily. _This had better be worth it_, the cat thought before she hurried through the corridor.

.-.-.

The walls were covered in strange pictures that the cat could not decipher as she walked down the hall. They seemed to be depicting the divines, sacrifices, and some other things Linxio couldn't make out.

_There's a name for this place, what was it? Um, oh right! The Hall of Stories!… Wow, very creative. Those ancient Nords had quite the imagination. _She thought as she ran her hands along the old carvings. She continued to look around at the pictures inlaid in the stone as she advanced down the corridor. Soon, she came to a large, circular door like structure at the end of the hall. Three rings, each portraying a different animal, were set above a circle with several holes in it. On a whim, Linxio took out the golden claw and put its talons into the holes.

Nothing happened.

She tried turning the claw with the circle.

Still, nothing happened.

Confused and angry, the half-Khajiit pulled out the claw and stared at it, trying to figure out what to do. Three circles lined up in a row were present on the face of the golden item, each with an animal shown on it. The cat smiled and looked up at the rings. _Bingo._

She set the claw back into her bag and got to work. The rings turned stubbornly in the stone, grinding against it from the lack of use over the years. It took some time for Linxio to turn each ring to the right animal, but she did. She took the claw out once again and turned it in the holes. There was another grinding sound and she jumped back from the wall in shock, only to watch it sink into the ground.

"So the wall is a door…" She mumbled. "Neat."

She stepped over the receding wall and walked into a cave-like area. It was somewhat dark and she could smell a decaying stench coming from farther in. She heard a noise, something like a screeching, and without warning a horde of bats flew at her. The cat gave a small scream and ducked. She watched them fly away towards some light in the middle of the cavern. _I hate bats, I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I HATE 'em._ She shuddered slightly when she stood up and continued forward.

After crossing a small bridge, she spotted a large stairway out and immediately ran for it while shouting: "FREEDOM!". At the top of the stairs, just as she was about to run through another tunnel, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She stopped running and turned towards it. She couldn't take her eyes off of it; it was just so entrancing. She walked towards the edge of the stairs and stared at it. "Freedom can wait," the cat said, jumping off the side of the stairs and running for her target. "Treasure comes first." She opened up the old wooden chest and grabbed everything she saw inside. "Ok, now freedom."

Linxio jumped down onto a few rocks and made her way past a small water flow to the flat, stone ground. She looked up at what was on the second layer of it and saw something else she could not believe she had missed.

"Another chest? Alright!" She quickly ran up the stairs and dove for the container. It opened rather easily and she once again horded everything inside, except for some pieces of armor.

She stood up rather pleased with her findings and was about to leave again when she heard something coming from behind. A chanting, not just any type of chanting, but it sounded to her like a Nord battle chant. She turned around to find a huge wall covered in ancient words, with one lit up in blue. Lights came swirling out to her, drawing her closer. The cat was intent on the lightened word, and not just because she was attracted to bright lights and shiny objects, but because she felt compelled to it. She touched the engraving and felt a rush of power over her that almost knocked her back. She was blinded for a second, with only one word she could not understand running through her head: _Fus_.

Linxio shook her head. Without warning, a loud explosion came from behind. The cat turned around and there stood a Draugr, but not like the ones she had seen before. This one seemed stronger. It took one stepped forward and opened its mouth.

_Fus…Ro Dah!_

The words made Linxio fly back towards the wall with such force, she was almost knocked out. The creature advanced towards her, but she was still trying to get back up.

"Alright then," She said, pulling out her axe weakly from behind her. "You wanna fight? Let's fight."

She gritted her teeth and swung at the heathen with all the strength she could muster. Just before it hit him, he block it with his greatsword, forcing her to stumble back before trying again. With a cry, she ran towards him, nearly letting go of the battle axe when she swung at him. It hit the Draugr Overlord in its mid-section, making it recoil to the blow. It stepped back and away from her, holding its greatsword to its side. Once again, it opened its mouth to Shout, but instead of it blowing her back, the blade of her axe wedged its way into the head of the zombie. It fell to the ground without another movement.

"That'll teach you," she wandered over to his body after healing herself and tried to take her weapon back to no avail. It was in too far. She sighed and grabbed the corpse's greatsword to call her own. It was cold to the touch, but she could handle it. The cat searched his body and found an engraved stone. "So this is what that wizard wanted." She stuffed it into her satchel and left the scene with the greatsword in her hands and questions on her mind.

* * *

**Alright, I know, that wasn't a very good chapter, but I just wanted to give you people something.**


	9. VIII: Confrontation

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

**Alright! I finished this whole chapter today. All those other days I've been goofing off and I think I finally beat Maj. Writers Block. How do I know this?  
**

**Because... I love Braste again! :)  
**

**_Disclaimer:_ I wish I owned Skyrim, but I don't.  
**

* * *

Braste remembered the first day she met Ulfric Stormcloak.

She was in what is now known as the Stone Quarter, playing around outside. And there was Ulfric.

It was cold outside, not a bitter cold she experiences with painful memories, but just the normal, Skyrim cold. It was snowing as it usually did in Windhelm, which is definitely more than it snowed in most other cities.

Braste was around seven at the time, and he, being four years older than her, was eleven.

She saw him, he saw her. The two young Nords exchanged glances.

...

And she threw a rock at him.

He had apparently given her the wrong look, at least, in her mind he did. So in turn, she picked up a rock, and threw it at him.

She smiled at that memory as she pushed open the doors to the Palace of Kings. A barrage of voices echoed from the far side of the building when she entered.

"Balgruuf won't give us a straight answer."

"He's a true Nord, he'll come around."

That voice. That's the voice Braste had been expecting. Of course it brought back memories, but she decided to suppress them for now.

.-.-.

"Don't be so sure of that. We've intercepted couriers from Solitude." Galmar stated. "The empire's putting a great deal of pressure on Whiterun"

"And what would you have me do?" Ulfric in turn asked.

The man walked up to him from the side room. "If he's not with us, he's against us!"

"He knows that, they all know that." The Jarl got up from his throne and walked back to the room where the other man had just come from.

"How long are you going to wait?"

"You think I need to send Balgruuf a stronger message?"

"If by message you mean shoving a sword through his gullet," He paused. "Then yes."

"Taking his city and leaving him in disgrace would make a more powerful statement, don't you think?"

"So we're ready to start this war in earnest then?"

"Soon."

They took their places on opposite sides of the table adorned with a battered map and many different colored markers scattered about the surface of it.

"I still say you should take them all out like you did dead king Torygg."

"Torygg was merely a message to the other Jarls. Whoever we replace them with will need the support of our armies."

"We're ready when you are."

Ulfric placed his hands on the table. "Things hinge on Whiterun. If we can take the city without bloodshed all the better. But if not…"

"The people are behind you," Galmar placed his hands on the opposing side of the worn, wooden table.

"Many, I fear, still need convincing"

The Nords took a step back from the table. "Then let them die with their false kings!"

"We've been soldiers a long time, we know the price of freedom. But people are still weighing things in their hearts." The Jarl blatantly turned his gaze to the world outside through one of the thin windows that was behind him earlier.

Galmar leaned back onto the table with his fists. "What's left of Skyrim to wager?" He asked with somewhat of an angry tone.

Ulfric turned back to the aging soldier. "They have families to think of."

"How many of their sons and daughters follow your banner? We are their families!" The man walked over to his Jarl.

Ulfric walked past him. "Well put, friend. Tell me Galmar, why do you fight for me?"

"I'd follow you to the depths of Oblivion, you know that!"

"Yes, but, why do you fight? If not for me, then what?"

"I'll die before elves dictate the fates of men. Are we not one in this?" Ulfric turned back to Galmar when he reached his throne.

"I fight for the men I've held in my arms, dying on foreign soil. I fight for their wives and children, whose names I've heard whispered in their last breath! I fight for we few who came home, only to find our country full of _strangers_ wearing familiar faces! I fight for my people, impoverish to pay the debts to an empire too weak to rule them, yet brands them criminals for wanting to rule themselves! I fight so that all the fighting I've already done hasn't been for nothing. I _fight_… because I must."

"Your words give voice to what we all feel, Ulfric. And that's why you will be High King." The soldier paused. "But the day words are enough will be the day soldiers like us are no longer needed."

The Jarl took his seat. "I will gladly retire from the world, were such a day to dawn."

"Aye, but in the meantime, we have a war to plan."

"And you're going to need somebody who can actually read a map." Both the Nordic men's heads snapped to the place where the feminine voice came from. A dark haired woman was leaning against the edge of the long table that stretched across the length of the building. She wore beaten steel armor and two swords were strapped to her waist. One Dwemer, and one steel, each with a strange glow emitting from each.

"Who are you?" Galmar asked, with a hint of irritation in his words.

She looked at him without turning her head. "Braste Dawnvictor."

"What do you want?" Ulfric asked.

"I want to join your army, did I not clear enough?" She asked with a straight face.

Galmar looked at her sternly. "Why do you want to join the rebellion, woman?"

Braste looked over at the Jarl. "I owe something. You don't know how or why, but I owe you."

Ulfric looked at her intently. She seemed familiar. He knew he had seen her before, and not just from Helgen. It seemed like he had known her long before that incident. He could place the face, or the name. "You were at Helgen, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was." She replied.

"Not everyone can say they made it out of there. Especially not with an annoying half-cat following you."

Braste smiled. "My thoughts exactly."

* * *

**I'm not even sure if I like this chapter, I don't think I put in enough detail. _But what the heck,_ I thought,_ let's post it anyway!_**

**Also, can anyone else _not_ take Ulfric seriously when he talks about what he fights for?  
**

**Next Time:  
**

**Linxio**

**_I've always wanted a Housecarl. Granted I don't know what it is and this is the first time I've heard of it, but I've always wanted one._  
**


	10. IX: Anger Issues

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn**_

**Song: 'Knights of Cydonia' by Muse**_**  
**_

* * *

**Dragonsreach**

**Tirdas, 7:52 AM**

**18****th**** of Last Seed, 4E 201**

"You see? This terminology is clearly first Era, or even earlier. I'm convinced this is a copy of a much older text. Perhaps dating to just after the Dragon War. If so, I could use this to cross-reference the names with other later texts." Farengar explained to the woman standing over an old book next to him.

"Good. I'm glad you're making progress. My employers are anxious to have some tangible answers." She replied with a somewhat glad tone to the wizard.

"Oh, have no fear. The Jarl himself has finally taken an interest, so I'm now able to devote most of my time to this research." Farengar reassured.

"Time is running Farengar, don't forget. This isn't some theoretical question. Dragons have come back." She reminded him.

"Yes, yes. Don't worry. Although the chance to see a living dragon up close would be tremendously valuable…" He said, trailing off a bit before continuing. "Now let me show you something else I found… very intriguing… I think your employers may be interested in this as well…"

"You have a visitor." The hooded woman motioned to the cat standing in the doorway.

"Hmm? Ah! Yes, the Jarl's protégé! Back from Bleak Falls Barrow? You didn't die, it seems." The court wizard exclaimed with a bit of a laugh.

"Glad to see you had so much confidence in me." Linxio said with sarcasm weighted in her voice.

"I didn't mean it like that. So you have the Dragonstone of Bleak Falls Barrow?" He asked.

"Nah, I risked my life for it and left it there." She replied with just as much mockery as she had used before. The gray half-Khajiit searched around in her satchel, then pulled out the strangely shaped slab of rock. "Yeah, here it is."

Farengar happily took it into his hands. "Ah! Thank you! You are a cut above the brutes the Jarl usually sends my way, even if you do have an attitude."

"Don't be hatin' on my attitude." She snapped with a wave of her finger. "Any way, what's my reward? I expect I get something in return. Even if I did find a load of valuable junk in that crypt, I _still_ want something."

The Nordic wizard laughed. "You'll have to see the Jarl about that, or his steward. They'll pay you appropriately." He nodded towards the woman. "My…associate will be pleased with your handiwork."

"She better be." The cat replied.

"I think she will." He turned towards the person dressed in leather armor. "So your information was correct after all. And we have our friend here to thank for recovering it."

"You went into Bleak Falls Barrow and got that? Nice work." The woman responded with a barely obvious congratulations in her voice.

"That's all I get? 'Nice work'?" Linxio retorted.

The woman crossed her arms. "I could give you a dagger in the heart."

"I could chop your head off." The cat said with a smile.

She rolled her eyes and looked at Farengar. "Just send me a copy of it when you've deciphered it."

"Farengar!" Irileth appeared in the doorway of the wizard's side room. "Farengar, you need to come at once. A dragon's been sighted nearby." The Dark elf looked at the half-Khajiit. "You should come too."

"A dragon! How exciting!" The wizard exclaimed with excitement as he headed towards the elf.

Linxio clapped her hands and followed. "Yes, how exciting! I can't wait for it to burn down the city!"

Irileth crossed her arms. "You both should take this seriously. _If_ a dragon decides to attack Whiterun, I don't know if we can stop it." She motioned for them to follow her. "Let's go."

* * *

**8:23 AM**

"So, Irileth told me you came from the western watchtower?" Balgruuf asked the guard dressed in yellow armor.

"Yes my lord." The soldier replied.

Irileth motioned towards the Jarl with her hand. "Tell him what you told me. About the dragon."

"Uh… that's right. We saw it coming from the south. It was fast… faster than anything I've ever seen." He said.

"What did it do? Is it attacking the watchtower?" The blond Nord questioned.

"No, my lord. It was just circling overhead when I left. I've never ran so fast in my life… I thought it would have come after me for sure."

"Wait, are you sure it's not attacking the tower?" Linxio cut in. "I highly doubt it was just sightseeing."

"Uh… I'm not sure." The guard replied.

"Good work, son. We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it." Balgruuf said.

The cat was awestruck. "Are you serious, blondie? All he did was run! In fact, I would consider that desertion!"

"Linxio, it's not important what he did besides that he informed us of a dragon attack." Irileth informed.

"Well good for him! I risked my life to get a chunk of rock, and do I get to rest? No." Linxio nearly shouted.

The Dark elf narrowed her eyes at the cat. "Just suck it up."

"Irileth, you better gather some guards and get down there." The Jarl commanded.

"I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate."

"Good. Don't fail me."

"Those are certainly high standards. No pressure, bossy." Linxio smiled.

Balgruuf glared at the half-Khajiit. "You're going there too."

"Dang it!" Linxio shouted.

* * *

**The Western Watchtower**

**10:31 AM**

The ground around the desecrated watchtower was alight with fire. Billows of smoke rose towards the sky from the inside what was left of the stone building. The walkways lay broken and crumbling around it.

The blue-gray skinned elf searched the landscape. "No signs of any dragon right now, but it sure looks like he's been here."

"No, duh, that guard guy told us that one was here. Or did you forget?" Linxio commented harshly, leaning against rock in front of them.

Irileth tried to ignore the cat's comments. "I know it looks bad, but we've got to figure out what happened-"

"A dragon was here." The half-Khajiit gave her a big smile. "Did I get it right?"

"- and see if he's still skulking around somewhere." She continued.

"I hope he is, that way he can eat and we can all get on with our lives." Linxio said, picking at her claws.

"He'd probably eat you next." Irileth countered.

"Nope, not after he died from eating a poisonous witch like you." Before the elf could retort, Linxio laughed and jumped over the rocks and ran for the building.

Irileth shook her head and turned back to her men. "Spread out, we need to look for survivors."

The soldiers began their search for anyone who may have been alive, looking everywhere around the watchtower. Linxio ran up one of the broken walkways and almost crashed into an armored man running out of the building and shouting:

"No! Get back! It's still here somewhere! Hroki and Tor just got grabbed when they tried to make a run for it!"

"Guardsman. What happened here? Where is this dragon? Quickly now!" Irileth commanded as she also ran up the broken rock.

He stared with wide eyes and shook his head. "I don't know."

"It attacked and flew off, it's kind of obvious." Linxio stated.

Irileth pulled out her sword and held it up to Linxio's neck. "I've had just about enough of you, cat!"

Before Irileth could take a swing at the half-Khajiit, a thunderous roar rolled over the plains. To Linxio, it sounded like the one from Helgen.

The guard stepped back and stared up at the sky. "Kynareth save us, here he comes again…"

Everyone looked up towards the mountains to see a large creature fly over the peaks towards the tower. The dragon sped towards the group, once again giving them its own, screeching battle cry.

Irileth turned towards the guards. "Here he comes! Find cover, and make every arrow count!"

The mighty beast soared over the ruined turret, alarming many people with how close it had come to them.

"Talos save us! It's a dragon!" Shouted someone.

"Yeah! We already established that by now!" Linxio shouted back as she ran towards it. Her clawed hands were slightly open; flames encased within the grasp of one, and sparks in the other.

It flew in graceful motion, though its motives were not the same. The pale dragon touched down to the vandalized ground and lowered his head, snapping at the attacking guards.

"HEY YOU OVERSIZED LIZARD! LOOK OVER HERE!" The beast whipped its head around to the shout, only to be hit with a barrage of fire and electricity. It cried out in pain and stumbled back. When the firing had ceased, a feline figure was clearly visible. The dragon roared and charged for the cat, who was pulling out her large battle axe. She swung at the creature, but instead of hitting it, the dragon clamped down on the blade with its jaws and ripped it from Linxio's grasp.

"Hey! Give me that back!" She jumped for the weapon's handle. The pale beast snapped its head to the side and let go of the axe, letting it fly through the air. The half-Khajiit stared at the monstrosity angrily. "_**How dare you**_…."

.-.-.

**How Linxio wished it had happened:**

"Mwahahahaha!" The dragon cackled. "You cannot defeat me! I am Great Dragon!"

She pulled out her sword and shouted back at it. "Oh yeah? Well, I'm Linxio Wyrdfire! And I can do whatever the heck I want!"

The cat swung at 'Great Dragon', striking it in the chest. It cried out and reared back. Linxio took this opportunity to jump and fly through the air towards the creature's neck. With one blow of her black sword the dragon's head came off and hit the ground. She stood triumphantly and top of the dragon's corpse. The guards ran up to her and sang her praises.

"Huzzah for the mighty warrior who defeated the threat to Whiterun!" They shouted.

She just smiled. "It wasn't that hard."

"You were so brave, how can we ever repay you?" Irileth asked.

"There is no need for payment, just knowing there is one less threat in this cruel world is enough." The cat said proudly.

So they all carried her off to Whiterun and they lived happily ever after in the city.

.-.-.

**How it actually happened:**

"DANG IT! I'M ON FIRE AGAIN!"

Linxio ran with the blaze trailing behind her as the dragon flew as close to the ground as it could after the cat. By now, she had pretty much abandon all hope of winning and decided that fleeing was a good course of action.

"Here kitty kitty! It's not nice to leave before your excused! I was just about to have some dessert anyway." The dragon laughed.

"WHAT WAS IT GOING TO BE?! ME?!" She shouted back, fire still burning on her back.

"Why yes it was." The creature made a lunge for the cat, but missed.

"IRILETH HELP ME PLEASE!" Linxio screamed.

"Why? He'll just die after eating a poisonous witch like you!" The elf yelled.

"I'M SORRY FOR SAYING THAT BOS- I MEAN IRILETH!"

"That's right _Khajiit_, what you say will come back to haunt you." The dragon roared.

Linxio stopped dead in her tracks, as well as the fire. "What'd you just call me?"

"A _Khajiit_. A _filthy_, _dirty_, _**Khajiit**_." The scaled beast replied.

The smoky-gray cat pulled out the cold, black sword she had picked up from before. "I'm. Only. Half. _KHAJIIT!"_

With the last word, she swung the sword as hard as she could at the dragon, cutting open his chest. It reared back its head and screeched. Linxio struck the dragon endlessly. One blow after another until it skin seemed as if it was held together by thread. The dragon fell to its side, but Linxio still hacked at it.

"Nobody calls me a filthy Khajiit. Nobody." She barely whispered. She took the sword in both hands and raised it above her head. With one swift strike, its head separated from its body. From all the force Linxio had put into it, it went straight through the thick hide and through the bone as if it was parchment. Anger was something she was very much capable of.

Irileth and the other guards stared at the cat whose gray fur was coated with blood and burns. They were all awestruck by the rage that had taken over her. It was as if it came from a whole other being inside of her.

But even after that episode, no one expect what would come next.

* * *

**That's right people. Linxio has major anger management issues. So this was basically a warning about calling her a Khajiit: Don't do it. You read what happened to the dragon.**

**As you may have noticed, I put in times because I figured out I needed it for a chapter a lot later on. But that's later. A **_**lot**_** later. Yeah, I thought ahead, a bunch. Like, 2****nd**** book later. Yes, there shall be two books! But that's, still, later. I also put in a song because I listen to music a lot when I write and this song may(?) go with it.  
**

**All right, I'm stopping the chapter here because I haven't updated in a while and it's sooooo long. **

**(The reason I haven't updated in a while is because Muse or Ideas hadn't hit me yet and I started school two weeks ago. Actually, the day after I posted the last chapter was when I started school.)**

**Next chapter to come soon. Hopefully.**


	11. X: The Dragborn is Revealed

_**I: Before the Fires of Dawn**_

**Song: 'Kill Your Heroes' by AWOLNATION**

* * *

**The Western Watchtower**

**Tirdas, 11:25 AM**

**18th of Last Seed, 4E 201**

* * *

"I've underestimated you Linxio." Irileth was the first to say anything after the half-Khajiit had slain the dragon.

"You most certainly have." She replied with a smile. The blood covered cat looked at all of the guards. "Let that be a warning to all of you! Don't ever call me _Khajiit_!"

The array of men all nodded their heads quickly in agreement. None of them wanted to turn out like that pale beast.

Without warning, one of the guards cried out. "By the Eight…"

Linxio turned around, only to see something she couldn't believe. The dragon's scales were burning and drifting through the air like ash. Her eyes got wide as the corpse caught ablaze.

"Everybody! Get back!" The dark elf ordered. The group followed her instructions and started to run. Linxio on the other hand, backpedaled. She had to see what was happening.

Ribbons of glowing light curved and twisted out of the burning carcass. They arched through the air. The cat started to backtrack faster when she realized the beams were coming straight for her.

"Linxio! Watch out!" Irileth warned. Linxio's head snapped towards the direction of the voice. Before she could turn around, though, something caused her to stumble backwards and fall to the ground. The white and orange luminosities caught up with her and entered her chest, surrounding her in light.

"HOLY CRAP! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" She screamed. "ASSUME FETAL POSITION!" She then covered her head with her arms and pulled her knees up to her chest. The lights continued to surround her in a large, orb-like shape until they finally diminished. Irileth and the other armored guards exchanged quick glances before rushing over to the frightened cat.

Once the soldiers gathered around her, she sat up quite quickly. Her head snapped back and she looked up at the dark elf, who was standing right behind her and smiled.

"Hi," the half-cat said in a cheery voice.

"Are you alright, Linxio?" The elf asked.

Still smiling stupidly and looking up, she replied in an idiotic voice. "Yeah." The Dunmer grabbed the half-Khajiit's arm to help her up.

"I can't believe it! Your…Dragonborn!" A guard wearing a horned helmet exclaimed.

Linxio, who had stood up and was brushing herself off stopped and looked at him with a confused expression. "What?"

"In the very oldest tales, back when there were still dragons in Skyrim, the Dragonborns would slay the dragons and steal their power." He replied. "That's what you did, isn't it? Absorbed the dragon's power?"

"How should I know?!" Linxio nearly yelled.

"There's only one way to find out. Try to Shout…that would prove it." He explained.

"Ok." She threw her head back and stretched out her arms. "HELLO!"

The guard glared at her. "That's not what I meant."

"Oh…" Linxio said.

"Dragonborn? What are you talking about?" A different guard asked.

"That's right! My grandfather used to tell me stories about the Dragonborn." Another one confirmed. "Those born with the Dragon Blood in them. Like old Tiber Septim himself."

"I've never heard of Tiber Septim killing any dragons." The doubtful one remarked.

The first one turned towards him. "That's because there weren't any dragons then you idiot. They're just coming back now for the first time since… forever!" He looked at Linxio, who was concentrating on what she was supposed to say so she could Shout. "But the tales tell of the Dragonborn who could kill the dragons and steal their power. You must be one!"

"Are you sure? I'm not even certain what I'm supposed to say so I can 'Shout'!" She replied.

The doubtful one turned to their leader. "What do you say, Irileth? You're being awfully quiet."

_That's a first… _the half-cat thought to herself.

"Come on Irileth. Tell us! Do you believe in this Dragonborn business?" Yet another soldier asked.

The Dark elf crossed her arms. "Hmph. Some of you would be better off keeping quiet than flapping your gums on matters you don't know anything about."

"Ooo… You've been dissed by Irileth! You've been dissed by Irileth!" Linxio sang, receiving quite a few looks from the group. She just stopped and smiled.

Irileth ignored her once again and motioned towards the dragon skeleton, which caught Linxio's eye. "Here's a dead dragon. That's something I definitely understand." The half-cat calmly made her way over to the carcass. "Now we know we can kill the things." She started breaking off a few bones and gathering some left over scale off of the corpse.

"But I don't need some mythical Dragonborn," Everyone looked over at the cat, who dropped everything she was holding and smiled guiltily. "Someone who could put down a dragon is more than enough for me." The group turned back to the elf. Linxio growled softly and started to pick everything back up, shoving it in her satchel while she did.

"You wouldn't understand, Housecarl. You ain't a Nord." A guard jeered.

"Ohhhh… You just dissed an Irileth!" Linxio caught hold of the elf's glare. "You just dissed uh… Nevermind."

She turned back to her men. "I've been all across Tamirel! I've seen plenty of things just as outlandish as this."

Linxio grinned. "So have I!" The group stared at her in bewilderment. "What? I like traveling."

"Might I ask what you did on your travels?" The Dark elf questioned.

"I made people made, just like I'm doing now!" The cat replied happily. "But that's beside the point. Continue with your lecture."

Irileth nodded. "I'd advise you all to trust in the strength of your sword arm over tales and legends."

The first guard looked over at the cat, pretty much ignoring everything their leader said. "If you really are Dragonborn, like in the old tales, you ought to be able to Shout. Can you? Have you tried?"

"No, but…" Suddenly, it all got pulled together in Linxio's mind. The word she had been looking for.

_**Fus**_

Linxio stared straight ahead. "I've got it."

She took a step back. Threw out her arms and shouted. "_FUS!"_

The troop staggered backwards as an interruption of the air passed them. Each person's eyes wider then next.

"That was Shouting! What you just did! Must be. You really are Dragonborn, then…" The guard said in perplexity and excitement.

Linxio nodded and smiled. "Cooool…" she looked back up at the group. "Well, I'm heading back to Whiterun. Bye!" And with that, the half-Khajiit sprinted towards the city, arms loose and flailing behind her, screaming: "WEEE!"

Almost to the first gate of the city's entrance, a loud, thunderous crack that shook the ground she stood on caused Linxio to fall flat on her face. An array of voices in unison called after that.

"_DOVAHKIIN_!"

The cat jumped right onto her feet while making karate chopping motions in the empty spaces around her. In mid-chop, she stopped. Her expression changed from angry sensei to confused ninja.

"What the heck was that?" She exclaimed in a not so frightened tone. Her hands fell to her sides and she frantically looked around to see if there was anything nearby that could have made the sound. Finally, she shrugged and ran up towards the city.

* * *

**Palace of Kings, War Room**

**12:38 PM**

Braste glared at Ulfric. "That's a _stupid_ idea."

"And you happen to have a better one?" The Jarl countered with a bit of a laugh.

"Of course I do, I've studied strategies for years." The dark haired, Nordic woman placed her fists on her hips to keep her from striking him.

"Alright then, what's your idea?" Ulfric asked with no actual interest.

She pointed to the fort which they had been discussing for quite some time now. "If we added more men here-"

Braste was cut off by what sounded like a clap of thunder. It shook the old, stone building with its sound, making both the Jarl and soldier stumble and almost fall to the ground. Braste clasped onto the table and the Jarl leaned against the wall.

"_DOVAHKIIN_!"

The earthquake stopped, leaving both Nords in awe. Braste's eyes were wide and she was glad she her back was facing the Jarl so he couldn't see her. Ulfric felt the same way about himself, but couldn't stop himself from muttering a single phrase.

".._She's alive_…"

The woman turned around to face him. "What?"

He looked at her, then shook his head. "Never mind. What was your idea?"

"Right, the idea." Braste looked at the worn map again, even though she was still focused on the call from the mountains. "Well, I was thinking…"

* * *

**Hmmm... Yeah. Early update. I was on a ROLL!  
**

**Oh, and I realized I messed up on the last chapter. Linxio apparently lost her axe twice. Oops. (I resolve the problem next chapter)  
**

**I was going to continue in the Dragonsreach part, then my brother gave me a question I needed to find the answer to:**

**Is it possible to go to High Hrothgar before you are summoned?**

**So that's what we're probably going to do now.**

**Happy Skyrimming my fellow Skyrimming Skyrimmers!**


	12. XI: Balgruuf: Drill Sergeant

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**I am the Walrus' by The Beatles**

* * *

**Dragonsreach**

**Tirdas, 1:18 PM**

**18th of Last Seed, 4E 201**

* * *

"Blondie! I'm back!" The cat screamed from the doors of the large building. "You know, word travels fast around here. It felt as if the whole city had been there! The guards kept saying stuff like, 'By Ysmir, you did it! You killed a dragon!' and 'You couldn't be the legend, could you?'. I was shocked at the fact everyone knew about it and it only happened half an hour ago!" As she approached the throne, she was confronted by the steward.

"It's good to see you back, the Jarl's been waiting for you." He informed.

She smiled. "Thank you, balding."

When Linxio walked past the man, she found the Jarl and… some other guy in the midst of a conversation.

"You heard the summons. What else could it mean?" Balgruuf said to… the other guy. "The Greybeards…"

_The what? _The half-Khajiit thought to herself.

The… other guy looked at the gray cat. "We were just talking about you. My brother wants a word with you."

"That's who you are! His brother!" She shouted happily, then got quiet. "You have a brother?"

"Yes," the Jarl replied. "Now, what happened at the watchtower?"

She waved him off. "Oh, lots of things. For instance, I lost my axe again."

"How do you lose an axe twice?" Balgruuf's brother asked.

"Well, you lose one, buy another, and lose that one too." She responded. He nodded his head.

"Did anything else happen?" Blondie asked.

"Yeah… Bossy and I are on better terms, I guess. Although she did try to chop off my head." She answered with a grin.

The Jarl's brother grabbed her by her armor and held her up close to his face. "_He means with the dragon."_

"Oh, right. It died. You don't see that every day!" Linxio snapped with a load of sarcasm.

"Hrongar, unhand her." Balgruuf commanded. "I do mean with the dragon, Linxio. Did anything _strange_ happend?"

"Oh yeah!" She exclaimed, then started to get quiet. "It turns out I may be sadfhasodib….."

"What?" The Jarl asked.

"I said that it turns out I may be sahdoasdf….." Her voice just kept getting harder to understand whenever she spoke.

"Linxio would you please speak up!" The Nord ordered.

"Ok. IT TURNS OUT I MAY BE DRAGONBORN!" The half-cat screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Just as I expected. What do you know about the Dragonborn?" He asked.

She shrugged. "That's just what the men called me."

"Not just the men," he informed. "But the Greybeards think the same thing."

"The who? What kind of beards do they have?" Linxio questioned with a confused look.

"Masters of the Way of the Voice. They live in seclusion on the high slopes of the Throat of the World."

"What the heck do these old people want with me?"

"The Dragonborn is said to have the unique gift with the Voice-the ability to focus their vital essence into a Thu'um, or shout." Balgruuf said. "If you really are Dragonborn, they can teach you how to use it."

"Didn't you hear the thundering sound as you returned to Whiterun?" The Jarl's brother asked. "That was the voice of the Greybeards, summoning you to High Hrothgar! This hasn't happened in… centuries, at least. Not since Tiber Septim was summoned while he was still Talos of Atmora."

"Hrongar, calm yourself!" Balding cut in. "What does any of this Nord nonsense have to do with our friend here? Capable as she may be, I don't see any signs of her being this, what, '_Dragonborn'_."

With a sharp intake of breath, Linxio looked over at the steward. "'Nord nonsense?' No signs of me being Dragonborn? I'll give you a sign! It may not be of my being Dragonborn, but it's a sign!"

"Linxio-" Balgruuf started.

"'Nord nonsense?'!" Hrongar shouted.

"See, he agrees with me!" Linxio said proudly. "And I'm not even a Nord!"

"Why you puffed up ignorant!" The Nord warrior continued. "These are our sacred traditions that go back to the founding of the First Empire!"

"You tell him!" The half-Khajiit shouted.

"Hrongar! Linxio! Don't be so hard on Avenichii." The Jarl demanded.

"Oh, this ain't being hard. I can be hard." The cat said, cracking her knuckles and giving the steward a look that said _'I'm gonna find you in a dark alleyway, and you're not coming back out.' _

"I meant no disrespect of course." The steward informed.

"Mm-hmm," Linxio mumbled with a sarcastic nod.

He eyed the cat cautiously. "It's just that… what do these Greybeards want with her?"

"That's the Greybeards' business, not ours." Balgruuf advised.

"You bet it ain't yours." The cat snapped.

Balgruuf glared at her. "_Linxio_…"

"It ain't yours either!" She smiled. "It's mine…"

"_**Linxio**_." He barked, catching her attention.

The cat leaned over to Hrongar, placing her hand in front of her mouth. "Someone's got a short fuse." She muttered.

"_**Linxio!**_" He shouted, jumping out of his throne.

Linxio's arms clapped down to her sides, then one went up to her eye in salute. "Yes sir!"

"Whatever happened with the dragon revealed something within you! And the Greybeards heard that! Do you hear me?"

"Yes sir! I understand sir!"

"If they think you're Dragonborn, who are we to argue?"

"We are not one to argue, sir!"

"Darn right we're not! Now go up to High Hrothgar!"

"Now, sir?"

"Now!"

"Sir! I don't know where it is, sir!"

"Well find out!"

"Yes sir!"

"There's no refusing the summons of the Greybeards!"

"Sir, are you sure about that, sir?"

"Don't try their patience!"

"Yes sir!"

"I name you Thane of Whiterun, and since I highly doubt your survive alone, I assign you Lydia as your personal Housecarl!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

"Here is this axe to serve as your badge of office!" He thrust the weapon into the cat's hands.

"Sir, thank you, sir!"

His voice got low. "Now get out of my sight."

"Yes sir!" Linxio turned to walk away but then looked back at the Jarl. They shared the same looks of _What just happened?_

.-.-.

The cat stood in front of her new Housecarl, eyeing her curiously. "So… you're Lydia?"

"Yes, I am. Honored, my Thane." The dark haired Nord woman replied.

"Alright then…." Linxio said, not sure of what to say. "…What's a Thane?"

"The Jarl has recognized you as a person of great importance in the Hold. A hero. The title of Thane is a great honor. Guards will know to look the other way when you tell them who you are." The warrior informed.

The half-Khajiit's face lit up. "So you mean I can steal whatever the heck I want and get away with it? Awesome!"

"No, that's not what I-" She started.

"Many people shall have light pockets today…" Linxio said thoughtfully. "But before we go any further with the thieving, what's a housecarl?"

"As my Thane, I'm sworn to your service. I protect you and all you own, with my life." Lydia responded.

"So… you get to carry all my crap?" She questioned joyously.

"What? No, I didn't say-" Before the Nord could finish, Linxio thrust weapons, armor, and other items into her arms.

"There! That's a lot lighter on my part." The cat said, ignoring the fact that the housecarl was burdened with loot. "Alright then, let's go on an adventure!"

"I thought we were going up to High Hrothgar?" Lydia asked after getting situated with the plunder Linxio had had.

"Naw, the Greybeards can wait!" The gray half-Khajiit dismissed with a wave over her clawed hand, then sprinted out the doors of Dragonsreach, Lydia following quickly behind.

* * *

**Thus the start of the world's greatest friendship in the history of friendships.**

**(Lydia is by far my **_**FAVORITE**_** NPC)**

**Don't y'all just love Balgruuf? Maj. Writer's Block was my inspiration. **

**I was actually telling that part to my brother, and I almost lost my voice. :D**

**First it's **Linxio**, then **_Linxio_**, then **_**Linxio**_**, then finally **_**Linxio**_**! Anger gets greater with each word. Who else do you know that can say things underlined, bold, and italicized at the same time?**

**Oh, and **_**Let's Keep This Loki**_**? I laughed so hard at your comment. Though that would be funny, it just would work. (I do admit that I did think about it, though)**

**Next Time (+Some Chapters After That):**

_**Sidetrackedness**_

**and**

_**Return to the Mountain top**_


	13. XII: Linxio's Religion

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**Busted Heart' by For King and Country**

* * *

**Whiterun**

**Tirdas, 2:34 PM**

**18****th**** of Last Seed, 4E 201**

* * *

Linxio hopped joyously down the stairs from Dragonsreach. "Come on, Lydia!" She turned around to look at her loyal housecarl. "You're really slow!"

"Well maybe you shouldn't sprint everywhere." The Nord mumbled, finally catching up with the Thane.

"What?" The cat said, appalled. "Not run? How is that possible?"

"By walking," she replied.

"Oh, ok. We can do that for a bit. No point in running when there's nothing to run about." Linxio agreed with a smile, then turned back to the stairs.

Lydia followed down the stone steps. "Are you sure we shouldn't be heading to High Hrothgar?"

The half-Khajiit dismissed her with her hand. "Nah. It's not like they want me to save the world or anything."

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Linxio was stopped by a loud voice.

"-Even as man, great Talos _cherished_ us. For her saw in us, in each of us, the future of Skyrim! The future of Tamriel!" The orange robed man shouted with much enthusiasm. "And there it is friends! The ugly truth! We are the children-"

Linxio leaned over to her housecarl and whispered. "Who's he?"

"A devotee to Talos." She responded.

"Oh." The cat paused, trying to take in what he was saying. "How long has he been here?"

"I'm not really sure. He just appeared one day and started preaching."

"Ok." Linxio tried her best to pay some attention to the man, but eventually leaned back over to Lydia. "He's really into this."

"He's a Nord. All Nords are firm believers of Talos. Well, before the White Gold Concordat was signed." The faithful warrior answered.

"Oh…" The half-Khajiit went silent.

"Who's Talos?"

The housecarl stared at her with wide eyes.

"Well, I know who he is," the cat added quickly. "But I just don't…"

"Believe?"

"Yeah."

"To each his own, I guess."

Linxio sighed. "Yeah, I guess." She looked thoughtfully towards the man. "Sir?"

"Hello, my friend! What do you need?" He asked.

"Just a question. Why do you believe?" She inquired.

"The stories have told that Talos was once man, then became Divine! I believe, because there is proof." He responded in his preachy voice.

"I guess that's a probable answer."

"What do you mean, 'a probable answer'?" He questioned.

"I just, don't believe in Talos." The evangelist's eyes got wide with curiosity. "Or Mara. Or Stendarr. Or any Divine. Well, except Akatosh."

"Why do you only believe in the dragon God, dear Khajiit?"

"Don't call me Khajiit." She said calmly. "I only believe in him because he is the only one who's proved himself."

"But there is proof of many more Divines than just Akatosh."

"Not really. Those are just stories. We can't be sure if they're true or not. I've seen proof of Akatosh in the Imperial City."

"Aha, you say that, but you don't know that the Imperials just created that dragon statue in his honor."

"You are correct sir. I don't know that. But I've heard stories from an eye witness of the occasion."

"From who? An aged elf?"

"No, not an elf. My mother." Linxio turned around and walked away, Lydia after her.

"Wait, your mother?" The housecarl inquired.

The cat nodded. "Yeah, she was there."

"How is that possible? She would be 200 years old!"

"You are correct. She would be, if she wasn't dead."

"Wait, what? You mean, you're a hundred or something?!"

"No, no. Well, something like that." She smiled. "Depends on what time zone you're referring to."

"What?!"

Linxio shook her head. "Never mind. Let's go find an adventure before your brain explodes."

They trekked around the huge, burnt up tree. Linxio almost missed the conversation going on when she stared up at it.

"I know your family's honor is important to you, but we can't afford it!"

Linxio's head shot over to the scene.

"It took me weeks to find that thieves' den. I can't stop now, and I can't get that sword on my own."

"Thieves? Sword? On? My? Own? Can't? Get?" Linxio questioned quietly. "Lydia, what does 'can't' mean? Is it foreign?"

Lydia sighed.

"So you're willing to starve your wife and daughter to reclaim some rusty old sword?" The woman said.

"I just need to hire one, maybe two good men. You won't starve." The Redguard man replied.

"One? Two? Good? Men? Maybe?" The cat repeated. "Lydia, we may not be men, and good is questionable, but there are two of us!"

"I'll put it plainly. You can claim your sword, or keep your wife. If you set one foot out that gate, I won't be here when you return." With that, the woman left.

Something clicked inside Linxio's mind. "Must. Find. Sword. For. Reasonable. Price." She muttered in a monotone voice, somewhat like a robot. In a zombie-like fashion, she looked over at the man, then snapped back to normal when she turned to her housecarl.

"Lydia, I know what we're going to do today."

* * *

**Outside White River Watch**

**5:07 PM**

"Stupid bandits." Linxio cursed, pulling her black sword out of the corpse's chest.

"Hey, at least there were only two out here." Lydia remarked, yanking her axe out of a different body's neck.

The half-cat shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." She smiled. "Now we loot the corpses and that random chest I saw!"

The housecarl sighed while the smoky gray Khajiit mix checked the bodies. She watched as the woman pulled a piece of parchment off one of them.

She began to read aloud.

"_Rodulf,_

"_Your little stunts try my patience. I know my uncle has issues, but he is our watchman and you will respect him. No more sneaking in and out. No more games with his ledger, or nails on his chair. One more 'joke' and you'll see how funny a day in the cage can be._

"_Hajvarr."_

She looked up. "Well isn't that nice."

"I think he meant business." Lydia commented as Linxio messed with the chest's lock.

The cat shrugged again. "I guess it doesn't matter though, seeing how we'll slaughter all of them."

The lid of the wooden container popped off and Linxio greedily opened it up, taking out quite a few objects.

"Are you going to go through every chest we find?"

"Oh no. Urns, wardrobes, end tables… whatever I can get open. Not just chests." She smiled, making Lydia roll her eyes. "Now let's go check out the cave!"

* * *

**Dear Chris the Cat,**

**.  
**

**You spelled thief wrong.  
**

**.  
**

** Love,  
**

**Solid Coffee  
**

**(On some other notes, Muse got shot while I wrote this. Again. This chapter was OK. You _can_ get to High Hrothgar before you're called. And if you got confused in this chapter, it shall explain itself later.)  
**


	14. XIII: Communication Issues

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**Not Your Fault' by AWOLNATION**

* * *

**White River Watch**

**Tirdas, 5:19 PM**

**18th of Last Seed, 4E 201**

* * *

Linxio had barely walked in when a shaky, male voice called out.

"Eh, who's there? Rodulf? That you?" A white haired man sitting in a chair scanned aimlessly around.

Linxio looked nervously over at Lydia. "Uh, yeah." She replied in a deep voice.

"Boss was lookin' for you, said he would be up at the summit. Best not to keep him waiting." The old man informed before turning back to his book.

The two women exchanged glances, then crept as discreetly as possible past the aged man. They continued up a flight of crudely made, wooden stairs and through a short tunnel.

"…So you in?" The man's voice made both the Thane and housecarl drop to the ground.

"Yeah. We can't have the rheumy-eyed fool as our watchman, even if he is Havjar's uncle. Time we dealt with both of them." A woman replied.

"We strike tonight, at dusk. Be ready." What sounded like a different man commanded. Linxio could barely see a man's silhouette on a rocky ledge up ahead. The cat turned back to the Nord and made a bunch of hand motions that she really didn't understand.

"What?" The dark haired woman whispered.

Linxio rolled her eyes and sighed. She pointed to the bandit's shadow, then made a slicing motion across her neck.

"Oh. Why didn't you just say that?" Lydia asked, still whispering.

"'Cause I didn't want them to hear!" The cat hissed, unsheathing her greatsword. They both jumped up and charged into the room. The bandits were startled, which gave the two a slight advantage as they attacked. In two swift cuts from Linxio's greatsword, the woman was on the ground. The man sent a blast of frost at Lydia, who only had to hit him once.

"Well that was easy." Linxio commented, slightly amazed.

"Yes, it was." Lydia watched as the half-Khajiit rushed over to the bodies and searched the small pockets. "Do you have to do that?"

"Why yes my friend. How else am I going to get rich? They're pockets are lined with gold!"

Lydia sighed.

* * *

"You think it'll work?"

"'Course not. Dogs I can train. But a half-starved wolf? Not a chance."

"Right. Lucky if it doesn't rip our throats out."

Linxio turned back to Lydia, then pointed to the chain on the wall and gave her a smile and thumbs up. The housecarl shook her head, but the cat pulled it anyway, mostly _because_ the woman shook her head.

The door to the cage swung open, and the wolf leapt out onto its unsuspecting victims while the guilty half-cat and the dark haired Nord watched from the shadows. It started tearing the two to shreds, kind of how Linxio had done to the dragon at the watchtower.

Without warning, the wolf, who had several arrows from an archer above in its back, ran towards the Thane and housecarl, making the bandits aware of the two onlookers.

"Oh, dang it." The smoky gray cat muttered. The two pulled out their weapons and charged for the three.

* * *

"Lydia, don't worry! I can do it!" Linxio assured excitedly.

"It's too far for you to jump, even if you are half-Khajiit." The housecarl countered.

"Obviously, you've never seen me go roof hopping."

"What?"

"_Exactly._" She smiled. The cat faced the cage hanging from a wooden post above the scene they were just at. She took a few steps back, then sprinted for the small, barred enclosure. Just as she reached the edge of the cliff face, she pushed off and flew to the cage.

And missed.

"DANG IT!" She screamed as the ground rushed towards her. Linxio hit, not the ground, but the dead bandits that she had piled up under it. She landed on them with a sickening sound.

"Are you alright?" Lydia shouted down, receiving a thumbs up from the cat. She sighed as the half-Khajiit got back up with a stagger, then proceeded to run up the rocky ramp to where the Nord was standing. "You're really going to try this again?"

"Of course! He could be carrying a lot of gold!" She said, pointing to the corpse in the cage. Once again, she took a few steps back, and ran for the iron confiner. She jumped for it, and caught onto the bars. Linxio turned back to her friend. "I told you I could do it!"

"You most certainly did," the dark haired Nord agreed, staring at the cat hanging from the bottom of the cage. "Now hurry up. We have a sword to get."

"Ok, just hold on." The half-cat pulled herself up and managed to get into a sort of sitting position on the bars. She reached in and started searching his pockets. "I knew he had some gold on him!" She pulled out a slightly oversized coin purse.

"Would you get off there now?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she started swinging the cage in the housecarl's direction. She hopped off the iron bars towards Lydia and successfully made the Nord collapse onto the rock when the cat landed on her. Linxio suddenly realized what position she in.

Half her body was on the rock, half of it was hanging over the opening, and her foot was stuck in the cage's bars.

"Did you really have to land on me?" Lydia grumbled, shoving the cat off of her.

"Nonononononononono," Linxio stuttered, grabbing the housecarl's hands and pulling her down with her.

Suddenly, they were both hanging from the cage. Lydia's wrists in Linxio's hands, and Linxio's foot caught in the cage.

"I'm gonna kill you, Linxio." Lydia muttered.

"Lydia! I'm going to drop you!" The cat shouted.

"What? No!" She yelled back. "Don't drop me!"

"You'll be fine!" The half-Khajiit guaranteed, letting go of the housecarl who hit the ground rather hard. She heard a slight shifting noise above her and looked up. Linxio came rushing towards her.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!" She screamed. It was a little late though, seeing as how she landed right on the Nord's back, causing her to flatten out on the ground.

"I'm going to kill you after this, Linxio." She mumbled.

"What?"

"Never mind."

* * *

**White River Outlook**

**7:14 PM**

"DIE YOU STUPID BANDIT!" Linxio screamed, leaping for the bandit chief with her sword drawn. His eyes were wide as she swung in mid-jump at his neck. His head was separated from his body and flew off down the mountain before he could move to draw his own weapon. Linxio stood over his body with her sword high above her head in what she would call an epic position.

Lydia came up behind her while the half-cat started to search the body like she did with all the others. "That seemed easy."

"Yes, it did." She started handing things to the housecarl, who took them from her and stuffed them in her crowded satchel. When Linxio handed her the steel warhammer, Lydia took it and swapped it for her own weapon when the Khajiit started searching through the chest. "I think this is the sword we were sent here for." She held up an iron sword, then threw it back.

"Ooooo… what might this be?" She pulled out a steel sword with a strange, greenish glow. "This is _definitely_ going to be my weapon." She strapped the weapon to her belt and smiled.

"If you found another one, you could dual wield." Lydia commented, picking up the iron sword that had almost hit her.

Linxio clapped her hand on the housecarl's shoulder. "Don't you think that's what I had in mind?"

Lydia shrugged. It was hard to tell what went on in the half-cat's mind.

"Now come on. We've got to get that blade back to its rightful owner, then find me another sword." Linxio said, hopping down the rocks of the snowy mountainside.

* * *

**Yep, another AWOLNATION song. It just worked, ok?**

**I almost didn't put in the part with Linxio and Lydia hanging from the cage. Then I did anyway. :D**

**In our next wonderful chapter, we meet a liar on the way back to Whiterun. He knows much, tells some. (One of my personal favorite random people to meet on the road at any time.)**

**Either that or something else. Of course, if I did the something else, it would basically be a huge thing of thoughts and internal conflict. Oh well.**

**I'll flip a coin.**


	15. XIV: The Liar and The Butterflies

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**You're My Best Friend' by Queen**

* * *

**Skyrim**

**Tirdas, 7:26 PM**

**18th of Last Seed, 4E 201**

The sky was dark and full of grey clouds. Lydia and Linxio skipped down the mountainside. Well, Linxio skipped and Lydia hurried behind her.

"Would you please slow down?" The housecarl asked.

"No," the cat simply replied.

As they neared the bottom of the path Linxio spotted something a little farther on down. A figure of a man, or something, was standing on the worn brick road. He wore some type of robes, possibly monk by its orangish color.

Linxio leaned over to her follower. "Do you see that?"

She nodded. "Yeah. It may be another bandit."

"A bandit? Wearing monk robes?"

"Sure, haven't you ever heard the children's story? A sheep in wolf's clothing or something like that?"

"A wolf in sheep's clothing."

"Whatever."

The half-cat looked over at the figure and realize that it had a tail. "Hey, it's a Khajiit!"

"Even worse." Lydia grumbled, making Linxio's head snap towards her with her eyes glaring. "Sorry."

"_Racist Nord._" She growled, then stalked towards the other cat. "Hey! Who are you?"

He turned towards her and smiled, revealing his coffee colored face. "I am M'aiq the Liar. Knows much tells some. M'aiq knows things others do not."

"Like what?" Linxio asked excitedly.

"M'aiq's father was also called M'aiq. As was M'aiq's father's father. At least, that's what his father said." He stated.

"Well isn't that something. All the men in your family were named M'aiq. Hmmmm… quite an heirloom." She turned back to her housecarl, and when she was about to say something, she stopped and turned back to M'aiq. "What else?"

"Werebears? Where? Bears? Men that are bears?"

Linxio looked around nervously, and started doing karate moves again. "Where?!"

Lydia sighed. "Linxio, he's talking about the myth about werebears. It's part of our lore."

"I knew that." She said returning to her standing position and back to the Khajiit. "And…?"

"Skyrim was once the land of many butterflies. Now, not so much." He replied a little sadly.

Linxio's eyes got wide. "_Butterflies?_"

"Yeah, have you not seen them?" Lydia questioned.

"No…" She sounded like she was about to cry and looked like it too.

Lydia sighed. "I'll take you to see some butterflies, Linxio."

The half-cat's face lit up. "Really?"

"Yes, I will."

Linxio did a girly little squeal, hugged the housecarl and swung her around. "Yay! We're going to see the butterflies!"

"Linxio, please put me down."

* * *

**Near Whiterun**

**Middas, 9:28 AM**

**19****th**** of Last Seed**

"Do you see any?" The gray Khajiit mix asked excitedly. She sat cross-legged on a large, tan rock next to a flowing stream. The sun was out again and beating down on the thane and her housecarl.

"Just wait, they'll be here." Lydia was sitting next to the cat, stretched out with her legs crossed and propped up on her hands.

"I haven't looked for butterflies for years. Seven, I think." Linxio said, reminiscing. "Life went by so quickly then."

"What were you doing that made it go by so quickly?" Lydia questioned.

"Anything that came my way," the half cat looked over at her companion and smiled. "Bounties, adventuring, the occasional favor, tomb raiding, excavations, and most of all, thieving."

"You were a thief?"

"Yep, one of the best in Tamriel. Of course, I couldn't have done it without my best friend." She paused. "You know, I haven't seen him for a while. I should go visit him sometime."

"Where is he?"

"In hiding. We are _so _wanted by the Empire, it's not funny." She added with a laugh. "Ok, it is. But that's kind of the reason I came here. He's hiding out somewhere in Skyrim and I was hoping to go undercover with him."

"That's when you go caught in Helgen?" The dark haired Nord asked.

She nodded. "That's when I got caught in Helgen." They both stared of into the distant landscape. The wind was calm and it was warm, for Skyrim at least.

Lydia broke the silence. "What else did you do?"

"I was actually a gladiator for a while." Linxio replied with a bit of a smile.

Lydia was a bit amazed. "Really?"

"Yeah," she looked down at her hands. "But I don't really want to talk about it."

"Ok." The housecarl said, dropping the subject. She started looking around again. Linxio looked up again, but didn't seem as excited as she was before and was playing with one of the many rings on her fingers. After a while she stopped.

"What'd you do before I came here, Lydia?" The half-Khajiit asked.

Lydia thought about this for a bit, trying to think about everything that happened before the strange gray cat had gotten here. She could think of quite a few things, but nothing all that notable. "Nothin'."

Linxio nodded and didn't say anything else. The silence and tension between them was evident, but the housecarl made no notion to change it.

_This is awkward_, Lydia thought. The cat rested her elbows on her knees and held her head up with her hands. Suddenly, her pupils got large and a smile spread across her face.

"What?" The Nord asked, looking around.

With one word, Linxio sped off:

"_Butterfly_…"

Her hands were out in front of her and she was in all out sprint. Lydia mostly watched with amazement as the half-Khajiit bounded about, chasing the blue butterfly. She jumped of it and tried to catch it in her hands, just so excited and happy. A definite change in how she had felt before.

"Come here you!" She giggled.

_I hope she doesn't do this in the middle of a fight._ Lydia thought.

Linxio pursued the bug all around the field, until it finally came upon a tree where it rested on. With one swipe, she had it in her hands. "Gotcha!"

It was so pretty and delicate, the cat almost didn't hear the noise behind her. She turned around to see the swarm of bees coming out of the hive that hung on the branch she had caught the butterfly on.

"Uh-oh." She said, letting the blue insect escape her hands. The massive horde flew towards her, making her speed away faster than the housecarl had ever seen anyone run before. "LYDIA!"

_I __**really**__ hope she doesn't do this in the middle of a fight._ She thought before jumping up and also running away.

* * *

**Yay, butterflies!**

**I'm sorry for the long wait. I just haven't had time to do this. Family stuff, school, friends… school (I really hate school right now :( )**

**I'm going to try to get as many updates in as I can this month because next month is November! A.k.a: Nanowrimo! (It's a competition for all those who don't know, I'm participating!) I'm really excited, but hardly ready.**

**See ya soon!**


	16. XV: Katwoman and Housecarl: Ep 1

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

**The 60's **_**Batman**_** TV show theme song**

* * *

_**The Adventures of Katwoman &Housecarl**_

**Episode One: In My Time of Need**

**Whiterun**

**Middas, 10:00 AM**

**19****th**** of Last seed**

* * *

**Narrator: **_**Ah, it's just another beautiful day in Whiterun. But who are these two figures coming through the gates?**_

"I really loath you, Linxio." Lydia grumbled as the two walked through the gate of the city, covered in welts.

"At least neither of us are allergic to bee stings," The half cat said, trying to be positive. The Nord just glared. "Hey, I already said sorry!"

The housecarl rolled her eyes. "Like that makes everything so much better."

The large doors shut behind them softly, although Lydia was dying to slam them. Linxio, on the other hand seemed sad and regretful, and Lydia, even in her angered state, took notice.

"What's wrong?" She asked, but the Khajiit mix just waved her off.

"It's nothing." Lydia could tell she was lying, but didn't press on with it.

They crossed over the stone bridge and were suddenly stopped by two Redguard men in foreign clothing.

"You there. We are looking for a woman in Whiterun. We're paying good money for information." One said.

"Umm…" Linxio started. "Okay… who are you looking for?"

"A woman – a foreigner in these lands. A Redguard, like us." The same one replied. "She is likely not using her true name. We are paying for any information regarding to her location."

The half-cat smiled. "Money, you say? Alright then."

"We are not welcome here in Whiterun, so come find us in Roriksted if you know anything." They turned and left, but Linxio faintly heard one say: "She cannot hide from us forever."

Lydia looked at the Thane. "Are you seriously going to do this?"

She smiled. "Yeah!" The Khajiit pointed to the sky and shouted. "Quick! To the inn!"

* * *

(Que _Batman_ theme song and title sequence)

* * *

**Narrator: **_**We find our heroes at the Bannered Mare, looking for clues about the Redguard woman.**_

Linxio and Lydia sat on a wooden bench in front of the blazing fire. People were milling about the building, drinking and talking. The bard was playing a songon his flute, one that seemed all too familiar to the housecarl.

"Why are we here?" Lydia asked.

"I really don't know." The cat replied. "I just thought someone might know something."

"Like who?" The housecarl questioned a bit irritatingly.

Linxio pointed. "Like her."

Right where the cat was pointing stood a Redguard woman in a low-cut, red and white dress. Lydia was at first a bit shocked at how Linxio had figured out where the woman was, then remembered they had stayed here the previous night.

The woman looked over at the two and noticed Linxio pointing at her, then waving her over to where they sat.

"You want a drink?" She asked.

"Nah, I just have a question." The cat said.

The dark skinned woman nodded. "Alright then, what can I do for you?"

Linxio decided not to beat around the bush. "Did you know some Alik'r warriors are looking for you?"

"Are you sure?" She questioned in shock. "Oh no, they've found me?" She looked at the two. "I need your help."

"That's what we're here for!" The cat mix said, jumping up from the bench.

"Please, come with me. I need to speak to you privately." The woman said. She walked into one of the side rooms, the kitchen Linxio assumed, and up a short flight of stairs. She turned and walked through two doors into a rather small room.

Without warning, she whipped out a dagger, making Linxio and Lydia both through up their hands.

"So, are you working with them? You think you can take me? You so much as touch me, and you're going to lose fingers." She threatened. "I mean it, I'll… I'll cut you in half."

"Cut us in half? With a dagger?" Lydia mumbled, awestruck by her confidence and semi stupidity.

"So the Alik'r sent you? What did they offer you? Gold? How many more of them are coming? Tell me!" The frightened woman demanded.

Linxio waved her hands in defense. "Hey, hey, hey. We come in peace. We are here to _help_ you. You can relax."

"Or I could kill you now." The housecarl muttered, receiving an elbow in the ribs from Linxio.

"I'll need your help, and there isn't anyone I can trust here in the city." The woman said.

"Didn't I just say we were going to help you?" The half cat mumbled almost inaudibly.

"What do you need us to do?" Lydia asked.

"I am not the person the people of Whiterun think I am. My real name is Iman. I am a noble of the House Suda of Hammerfell." The Redguard woman explained. "The men who are looking for me, the Alik'r, they are assassins to the employ of the Aldmeri Dominion. They wish to exchange my blood for gold."

"Wait, Aldmeri Dominion? Aka, Thalmor?" Linxio said, letting her hands fall to her sides rather dramatically.

The woman nodded.

The cat clapped her hands together in finality. "That's all you needed to say. Now where are these cretins hiding?"

"What made you make up your mind so quickly?" Lydia questioned.

She put it simply: "I _**hate**_ Thalmor."

"I heard one of their men was arrested, and taken up to the Dragonsreach dungeon." The Redguard stated. "He would know where they are."

"Alright then," Linxio looked over at Lydia. "Let's go." The housecarl nodded and the two ran out of the inn.

* * *

(Spinning logo)

**Narrator: **_**The two adventures rush up to Dragonsreach to interrogate the suspect.**_

"You there!" The half-Khajiit yelled through the cell bars. The Redguard looked up from the floor of the dingy place.

"What are you looking at?" He questioned with an attitude.

"I need to find those people you work with!" Linxio shouted demandingly.

"Would you quit yelling? I'm right here!" The man said, standing in front of the barred door. "And what do you mean by the people I work with?"

"The people!" He still looked confused. "You know, the people. The Alik'r!"

He sneered. "Why should I help you?"

"Because I said so." The cat growled. He held his ground firmly. Linxio sighed and rolled her eyes. "And I can get you out of here."

"How can you get me out of here, cat?"

She narrowed her eyes. "_Half_-cat. And I am Jarl Balgruuf's Thane."

He looked at her as if to size her up. "Alright then. I can tell you where they are, but first, ensure that I get out of here."

"Ok." Linxio turned around and walked to one of the yellow armored guards.

Lydia leaned over next to her Thane. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" She whispered.

"Yep, especially since I'm lying to him." She muttered back with a smile. The smoky gray cat mix looked back at the guard, making sure her back was turned to the cell. "Would you mind doing me a favor?"

"What is it, my Thane?" The man asked.

"Can you let him out of that cell in a little bit?" Sherequested, giving the guard a wink.

He nodded in an understanding way. "Of course."

"Thank you," Linxio said, turning back to the Redguard behind bars. "You hear that? He's gonna let you out."

"I heard." He said. "But before I tell you where they are, let me give you a warning: To meet these men, is to meet your end."

Linxio was not phased. "Alrighty then, where in Oblivion are they?"

"Swindler's Den."

"Thank you for the absolutely free information that you just gave us. Hope you rot, criminal scum." The half-cat smiled before running out of the dungeon, leaving the Redguard to call after her with all the curses he could think of.

"Linxio, where are we going?" Lydia asked, running next to the Thane.

"To get costumes!"

* * *

(Logo spins)

**Narrator: **_**Our heroes have arrived at Swindler's Den dressed in their new crime fighting outfits.**_

"I still don't understand what we're wearing," Lydia said, peering at Linxio behind her mask.

"Our costumes! If we are going to be heroes, we have to have costumes." The half-cat replied, fixing her hooded cape.

"As I recall, I don't remember any heroes wearing masks and… whatever it is we're wearing."

"You probably just didn't read between the lines." The Linxio stated.

"Really, I just wished we hadn't run into Thalmor while we were wearing these." Lydia commented.

The cat shrugged. "Well, let's let bygones be bygones, because we already said bye and their lives are gone."

As the two made their way around the rocky hill, they heard a voice.

"You picked a bad time to get lost, friend." A thick accented Khajiit shouted, charging at them with his sword in hand.

"You picked a bad time to mess with me," Linxio countered, drawing her own, iron sword from her belt. She swung at his chest, causing his armor and torso to split open. Then she brought is down across the other cat's head, and finally thrust it into an unprotected part of his armor. The bandit fell to the ground outside the cave against the rocks.

She looked over at Lydia and they both ventured into the cavern.

* * *

**Narrator: **_**After what seemed like an endless amount of bandits, Linxio and Lydia have finally found Kematu's hiding place.**_

The smoky gray Khajiit mix and her Nordic housecarl stepped a bit reluctantly through the flowing water, only to find warriors with their swords drawn surrounding them.

"Alik'r hold!" The person Linxio and Lydia assumed was the leader and Kematu commanded. All the Redguards steadied their weapons, but didn't lower them. The leader looked at the two below. "You've proben your strength, warriors. Let's avoid any more bloodshed. I think you and I have some things to talk about."

Linxio and Lydia slowly sheathed their weapons, but kept their hands on them just in case this was a set up or there was an ambush.

"It's no secret why you two are here," he started. "And you have proven your skills in combat. Let us talk a moment, and no one else needs to die."

The cat, in her own way, relaxed herself a bit.

"I think we can all profit from this situation we find ourselves in. My men will not attack you."

"We've been sent here to kill you." Lydia stated.

"Of course, sent by… what is it she calls herself by now days? Shazar? Saadia? One of those, correct?" Kematu asked. The pair in the water nodded. "Did she appeal to your sense of honor? Your greed? It doesn't matter."

"You're right, it doesn't." Linxio repeated.

"Can you please get to the point?" The Nord begged.

"You two seem eager to get this done." He observed.

"We are." The two responded in unison.

"Alright then, since she seems to trust you, we need you to lure her to Whiterun Stables, we'll take it from there."

"That can be arranged." The half-Khajiit guaranteed.

"Then our business here is done." The Redguard said, dismissing them. The duo nodded and walked up the wooden ramp through a tunnel that led back to the entrance.

"Are you really going to turn her in?" Lydia asked Linxio as the cat jumped onto the ground below the small ledge they stood on.

"Yeah. I'm very indecisive about things like this." She replied, watching her housecarl jumped to the ground after her.

"Indecisive about what things?"

"Let me put it to you this way," the cat put her arm around Lydia's shoulders as they made their way out of the cave. "We were outnumbered roughly three to one, I'm not a big fan of those odds. Especially when I'm supposed to kill or be killed."

"You're a coward." Lydia said, shaking her head.

"No, I'm just Linxio Wyrdfire."

* * *

**Narrator: **_**Back at the Bannered Mare…**_

"Just trust us! We can get you out of here to safety." Linxio assured the Redguard woman.

"Alright, I trust you." Saadia said. "Let's go."

The woman got up and the three hurried out of the inn. The group nearly sprinted down the stone pathways in the darkness of the cloudy night to the gates. They rushed down the curving hill and towards the stalls. They rounded the corner to the building and Saadia stopped dead in her tracks.

"What is this?" She growled when Kematu stepped out of the shadows.

"Oh come now," The warrior laughed. "You didn't really expect to manipulate people forever, did you? Your luck had to have run out sometime."

With that, the Redguard brought up a spell and cast it on the woman, making her go completely still and fall to the ground. He turned to Linxio and Lydia.

"Now we'll take our friend here back to Hammerfell, where she will pay the price for treason." He said.

"Will she be harmed?" The cat asked.

"Not on the way back. Once she gets there, it's not up to me to decide what's done with her." He stated. "And as for you, I owe you a portion of the reward, don't I?"

_Yep,_ Linxio thought.

"Well, here you go. Spend it wisely, and if I may… don't allow yourself to be foold by a pretty face. You're better than that." Kematu advised.

_What are you, my grandfather? _Lydia thought harshly.

Before leaving, Linxio looked at Saadia's frozen body lying on the ground, then back at the Alik'r leader.

_She's probably going to die anyway. _She drew her sword and thrust it into the woman's chest, right where her heart should have been.

"What?!" Kematu shouted. "After all that, you killed her? You've ruined everything!"

The Khajiit mix pulled out her sword and whipped it across the Redguard's throat, making him collapse and hit the ground. Linxio smiled and started cheching the two bodies' pockets and satchels.

"Linxio?" Lydia said.

"Yes?" The cat replied, not looking up.

"You'd make a very bad hero." The housecarl commented.

"No Lydia," Linxio corrected, standing up with her arms full of gold and jewels. "I just deal out justice, _my way._"

* * *

**I know. **

**I totally based this chapter after Batman. (The old TV version)**

**I thought it was appropriate for the chapter.**

…**Ok maybe it isn't, but I did it anyway.**

**Oh, when it says 'they had stayed here the previous night' when I was talking about how Linxio found the RG woman, don't be perverted or anything. Lydia took the bed, Linxio took the floor.**

**They're not that way. Trust me.**

**Plus in this AMAZING chapter, I stole a line from Oblivion I've heard oh so many times. Can you guess which one it was? :D**

**The last line of the story was courtesy of Blue Dartwing. **


	17. XVI: The 2nd Dragonborn

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**Stairway to Heaven' by Led Zeppelin**

* * *

**23****rd**** of Last Seed**

* * *

_Why now?_

_Why do they call me up now? Why do they want me back?_

_It's been years, but I have to go back. Right?_

_Do I have to?_

_Maybe I shouldn't have gone up there in the first place. But then again, I had to._

_.-.-._

_What have I gotten myself into?_

_I shouldn't be doing this. I should be… I don't even know what I should be doing. I was running then, but that changed. _

_Now, I'm going back down that path. I can't stop now though._

_Just need to keep going._

_.-.-._

_This is stupid. _

_I should have done this earlier, not have waited a few days or done anything else. Just come straight here._

_But no. I waited. Now I'm practically frozen. _

_Of course, that would be strange. Run out into the open up to the top of a mountain._

_That's completely normal._

_.-.-._

_It's so cold._

_.-.-._

_Stupid blizzard._

_I could probably do something about this, but I can't._

_Correction: I shouldn't._

_That would be normal._

_Keep a low profile._

_.-.-._

_Maybe I'll get stuck under an avalanche, that would keep me from going up there._

_Or maybe I'll get frostbite._

_Ooo! Frostbite! _

_.-.-._

_Now I know the spell for fire… right?_

_Of course I do. First one I learned._

_.-.-._

_I have to be getting closer. This should be the 5,000__th__ step or something. Just…ugh…2,000 or so to go._

_Why do they have to have 7,000 steps? Why not, oh, 5? Or 2?_

_What about, a horse or something? Or a mammoth?_

_Or at least not have steps leading DOWN?! Why do they go down?_

_They shouldn't count those. I would feel so much closer._

_.-.-._

_I'm going to kill the Greybeards._

_I can't feel my legs any more. Or my fingers._

_Or…DANG IT!_

_.-.-._

_100 steps. Why did I have to fall down 100 steps?_

_And down more or less?_

_I'd rather be in Oblivion._

_.-.-._

_Unless it's Coldharbour._

_I bet it's… oh no! My flames!_

_.-.-._

_Out. Of. Magicka._

_Can't. Feel. My. Face._

_Hate. This. Place._

_(…That rhymes…)_

_There. It. Is._

_Going. To. Die._

_I'm. Going. To. Cry._

_Frozen tears_

_There's ice on my face_

_Waited so many years_

_Yet I feel so misplaced_

_Hopefully it's warmer_

_Not here to chat_

_I can barely murmur_

_Won't eat no animal fat_

…_I'll come up with the rest later._

_.-.-._

_I have way too much time on my hands._

_.-.-._

_Maybe this won't be so bad. They may not…_

_Maybe this time will be better. I may get a bigger purpose in life._

_Like maybe I'll have to save the world._

…_That's a little big of a purpose. Maybe I'll have to do something smaller._

_Maybe I'll just have to get rid of that dragon that attacked Helgen. _

_Then again, why did that dragon attack Helgen? Why was it there?_

_How did it come back?_

_I certainly have questions to ask the Greybeards_

_.-.-._

_Life sucks._

_This sucks._

_People suck._

_I hate this._

_I wish I could just die right now._

_Maybe I should just jump off the mountain and fall to my doom. No one would care._

_They all think I'm dead anyway. What difference would it make?_

_Maybe frostbite will get to me first._

* * *

"Fyrna, it's good to see you again." The aging man said, walking up to the woman who had entered the old building.

"It is good to see you too, Master." She replied, bowing to her elder.

"We wouldn't have known you were still alive until you shouted." He said, guiding her in.

The woman stopped and looked at him, puzzled. "I didn't shout."

"You didn't?"

"No."

"The that means…there's another Dovahkiin in Skyrim."

"So," she started. "She hasn't been here yet?"

He shook his head. "No."

"It's been almost a week, though!" The woman exclaimed.

"I know, but maybe she got caught up in something."

"I hope she can take care of herself."

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"LYDIAAAAA!"

* * *

**That was the longest, shortest chapter I've ever written.**

**Sorry about the wait, I just got caught up in my competition, even though I'm behind by 9000 words. :/**

**Alright, so I believe I've sparked some questions like, **_**'Who is this mysterious woman?', 'How does Angeir know her?', 'When will Linxio and Lydia get to High Hrothgar?', **_**and most important: '**_**When shall these questions be answered?'**_

**Well, most of these questions will be answered in the chapter after this, because Linxio and Lydia are headed back to Whiterun and saving a magical tree! (You darn tree huggers :D)**


	18. XVII: Tree Huggin' Hippies

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**Savior' by Rise Against**

* * *

**The Lunar Forge**

**Morndas, 4:01 AM **

**24****rd**** of Last Seed**

"LYDIA!" Linxio screamed, running from a barrage of flying arrows outside the stone fortress. "COVER ME!"

Lydia, with stealth like that of a ninja's, rolled out from behind a nearby rock and fired her own set of arrows, taking out all the bandit archers while Linxio took down a few other bandits that had been following her with the sword she carried.

"This is going well," Lydia stated, taking down a new bandit with her bow.

The half cat spun around and attacked another outlaw. "It certainly is."

The two looked about their location, not spying any bandits. They turned to the crumbling fortress and traveled up the many sets of stairs to its interior, which was somewhat of a wreck like the outside.

"Well, this is interesting." Linxio said when they reached the center of the building. The circular, stone courtyard was open to the sky, letting the light shine in. A complete smithing center was set up, even a tempering table.

"Your own forge," the housecarl commented, glancing around.

"_Our_ own forge," the gray Khajiit corrected, picking up a glowing iron sword which seemed like the one she had. "What's mine is yours."

"You mean all this stuff you gave me, I can use?"

She nodded with a bit of happiness. "Yes. It is _ours,_ meaning you can use it too."

A small smile appeared on Lydia's lips when she gave that some thought while Linxio strapped the new sword to her belt. The cat looked at the ground and knelt down. She stood back up with a book in her hand. She opened up its pages and looked at it, then laughed.

"There's a manual on the forge!" She snickered.

"Maybe that isn't such a bad thing." Lydia suggested.

Linxio just shrugged, handing the handbook over to the Nord. "I don't read directions anyway. You can have it if you want, though." Lydia accepted the book and decided she should read it, sitting on the curved wall of the hearth for light. Linxio, on the other hand, wanted to check out the forge. "Hey, do we have any leather?"

"Umm…" Lydia cocked her head in thought, then opened up the satchel where she could somehow fit most of the equipment Linxio had given her before. "Yeah," she pulled out a few un-tanned pelts and the rawhide the half-cat wanted.

Linxio eagerly took them from her friend before getting back to the forge. "Thanks."

The Nord returned to the book in her hands. After a while, she heard the bellows releasing air and it seemed to be getting hotter where she sat. She looked up and saw Linxio working with the furnace. "You know how to smith?"

She nodded. "Mm hm. A friend of mine, a long time ago, taught me how to."

"The same one you terrorized Tamriel with?" Lydia asked, getting up and sitting near the workbench to get away from the heat.

The Khajiit mix chuckled. "No. A different one."

"You seem to have been popular in Bravil."

"Very." Linxio laughed. She sighed, but not in a sad way, more of contentment. "I really need to visit that place again."

"I'd be happy to come with you."

"Well I'd love to take you. But it may be a little, strange, to you." The cat pulled something out of the fires and set it onto the anvil.

The housecarl shrugged. "When I get used to you, nothing will be strange."

Linxio smiled. "You have no idea how true that is."

* * *

**Near Whiterun**

**4:56 AM**

"So, leather armor." Lydia commented as the pair walked back to the city.

"Yup." Linxio confirmed. "I'm particularly fond of it myself, and since we were near a forge, I just figured I should make myself some."

The Nord nodded, then pulled out the manual that she had been studying earlier. "So I found out something interesting earlier, about the-"

"Lydia! I thought I told you I don't care about the manual."

"This isn't about the manual, it's about the forge."

"Alright then, what is it?"

"Well, apparently it's some kind of magic forge. If you make a weapon when the moons are out, the weapon becomes enchanted."

"So you're saying that the sword I picked up has some kind of lunar magic?"

"Most likely."

Linxio smiled as the two passed the gate guards. "That's pretty neat." One of the guards made a move to stop her as she started to open the doors of the city. She just held up her hand. "Thane." He retracted and returned to his position.

"Being Thane certainly has some privileges." Lydia observed.

"It certainly does," the half-cat replied as a slight light rain came upon them. "I'm glad to have it as my title."

"Especially since it doesn't have any major responsibilities attached to it, right?"

"Now you're speaking my language." Linxio said as they took a turn left after crossing the short, stone bridge inside the city walls.

"Where are we going?" Lydia asked, loyally following her Thane.

"I heard there was a tree that needing fixing, or something." The gray cat mused.

"Reviving, if you're speaking of Gildergreen." The housecarl corrected.

"That's the one."

"How nice of you."

Linxio smiled stupidly. "I just like trees."

"So, then you're a tree hugger?"

"Why of course I am, dear Lydia!" The two laughed. "I've hugged many trees in my time."

"Alright then, I didn't exactly mean it literally, but it's fine by me."

The two approached the temple of Kynareth and pushed the dark doors open. They walked into a very bright room, even with the weather outside. Plants hung entwined with the railings on the second floor. The windows were made of stained glass and the floors were made of white tile that refracted the light. Wooden pillars held up the ceiling. There were also two stone, built-up slabs between some of the columns. A woman stood off to the side dressed in orange and yellow robes.

"Domica!" Lydia called, catching the priestess's attention, who turned around to face the two.

"Lydia!" The priestess responded, walking towards the two adventurers. "It's good to see you again."

Linxio looked at Lydia, then back to Domica. "You two know each other?"

"Why of course!" The housecarl said, with a bit of offense in her voice. "I do have a social life."

Linxio dropped her jaw in fake amazement and Lydia just rolled her eyes, which just made the cat smile.

"Is there something I can help you two with?" Domica asked.

"I was actually wondering if we could help you with the tree thingy." Linxio explained, but not very well.

"What?" The holy woman asked, clearly confused with Linxio's choice of words.

Lydia sighed. "She wants to know if there is a way to revive the Gildergreen."

"Oh," the Nordic nun said, nodding. "I've thought about that…trees like this never really die. They only slumber. I thing if we had some of the sap from the parent tree, we could wake up its child." Her tone changed. "But even if you could get to the Eldergleam, you couldn't tap it. Not with any normal metal."

"What kind of weapon could work for it?" Linxio questioned.

"Eldergleam is older than metal, from a time before man or elves. To even affect it, you have to tap into the old magic. You'll have to deal with the Hagravens."

"Hagravens?" The cat looked over at her friend.

"Vile creatures who are like old bird women. They aren't nice. At all." The housecarl replied. Linxio nodded.

"Yes, and I've heard about a weapon they've made for sacrificing Spriggans." Domica continued. "It's called 'Nettlebane'. The hags terrify me, or I would have gone after it myself."

"We could get it." Lydia proposed and the cat agreed.

"Your spirits are strong. Kynareth's winds will guide your paths." Domica said. "It's held in a Hagraven nest called Orphan Rock."

* * *

**Outskirts of Helgen**

**11:23 AM**

"That was Helgen," Lydia said in awestruck disbelief. "Wow."

"Even I didn't know it was that bad." Linxio agreed. The two had traveled from Whiterun to Helgen to get to Orphan Rock. Linxio had wanted her housecarl to see the place where she almost got her head cut off. Of course, this was before she found out what it looked like now. Bandits were hidden in every nook and cranny, along with all of the destruction that was caused by the black dragon.

The cat and Nord proceeded down the path and took a left off of it into the wilderness. The light drizzle they had experience in Whiterun had turned into a steady rain, making most of the snow turn to ice. The two slipped across the ground as they headed up to the site. At certain points, they could hear distant thunder, but they didn't take much notice to it.

A flashing of pale light caught the pair's attention, and they spotted a woman dressed in black robes rushing towards them. Linxio instinctively pulled out her dual swords and Lydia grabbed her bow, nocking in an arrow. The half cat nearly sprinted towards the witch, swinging her blades at her enemy, who had started to launch a fire spell at Linxio. The Khajiit's armor was partly ablaze, and after a slash to the necromancer's shoulder, she pulled back. Lydia fired an arrow, which hit the woman between the eyes. She fell dead at the feet of the Thane.

"Nice shot," Linxio praised, patting her armor with her hands to put out the flames.

"Thanks." The housecarl pulled her bowstring back and launched another shot past her Thane's head, taking down a different witch.

"Really nice shot," the half-Khajiit said.

"Yep."

Linxio and Lydia headed back up the hill, coming across another witch they took down quickly, just in time for a bolt of fire that sounded like an explosion to hit Lydia in the side. The Nord lost her footing and fell to the ground several feet from where she had originally been standing. Linxio's head snapped from Lydia to the direction of where the spell was fired.

"That is the most ugliest thing I've ever seen!" The cat yelled, staring at the wrinkly, feathered woman crossing the fallen log that acted like a bridge between where Linxio was standing and a rocky land mass that came up from the ground. It squawked at her like a duck that was being strangled, causing Linxio to look at the creature crazily.

"Alright then," she said before charging towards the creature with her swords in front of her.

* * *

**Temple of Kynareth in Whiterun**

**5:24 PM**

The doors of the temple burst open and a gray Khajiit walked in holding a dark knife in her hand above her head.

"LOOKIE WHAT WE'VE A GOTTEN!" Linxio yelled. Lydia came in behind her and tried to quiet her.

"Shush Linxio! This is a place of_ worship_, not shouting." The Nord scolded.

"Oh I haven't even started to Shout yet," she held up a finger to the residents of the building. "Which I did at Orphan Rock, might I add. Here! I'll show you!" She almost managed to say the foreign word that would send almost everyone in the room flying, but the housecarl managed to clap her hand on the half-cat's mouth before she got the chance to speak.

"Don't, Linxio." Lydia said, glaring at her before removing her hand. Linxio had her cheeks puffed up like she was holding her breath, (which she was). Lydia just rolled her eyes. "I didn't say don't breathe!" The cat let all the air she had been holding in and started wheezing. The Nord shook her head. "Stop overreacting."

The cat stood up and brushed herself off, acting very annoyed towards Lydia, as Domica made her way over to them.

"I'm guessing you have Nettlebane?" The priestess guessed, knowing the answer.

"Yes, it would've taken less time if Linxio hadn't been running around screaming her head off." Lydia said plainly, not looking over to her friend.

"I couldn't help it. That thing was _ugggg-ly!_ I mean _ugly_. Ugly, ugly, ugly," The cat proclaimed in all seriousness. "_**Ugly.**_"

Domica laughed when she saw how irritated Lydia was. "You know, I honestly didn't expect you to come back, but of course, I'm glad you did."

"Nobody has any faith in me in this town." Linxio huffed, putting her fists on her hips and looking over at her housecarl who just smiled.

"That's because we don't want to have faith in you." She teased, receiving a punch in the shoulder from the Khajiit mix.

The priestess looked at the two, and thought about how good of a pair they made. "I have something I need to ask of you two." The friends looked over at her and seemingly forgot their annoyance with one another.

"I don't really want to touch that thing," she said, making Linxio look down at the knife in her hand. "Do you think you could handle the next steps?"

"Yes." The two replied in unison, causing them to glance at each other before turning back to Domica.

"Eldergleam sanctuary is to the east of here. You can use Nettlebane to retrieve some of its sap." The woman informed.

"That sounds easy enough." Linxio said. Lydia nodded in agreement. They turned to leave, but were stopped by a man in a belted tunic.

"Was I correct in hearing that you were travelling to the grove of the Eldergleam?" He asked.

The cat looked over at her friend warily. "Yeeesss…"

"I am a traveler. A pilgrim. I follow the voice of Kynareth wherever it can be heard." He proceeded. "I've dreamed of seeing Eldergleam for years. Might I travel alongside you? I promise not to get in the way."

"You're welcome to join us!" Linxio said happily.

The man smiled. "I thank you for your kindness."

The trio made their way to the door once more, the pilgrim a bit behind the other two.

_He's so gonna die_, Linxio thought.

* * *

**Skyrim Wilderness**

**Fredas, 12:47 AM**

**21****st**** of Last Seed**

"I cannot believe you let this happen, Lydia." Linxio grumbled to her Lydia as they stood next to a pile of white ashes. "I was only gone for five minutes!"

"You were gone for ten and I am not a babysitter." The housecarl protested.

"You could have at least done a better job of protecting him!"

"He was a grown man; I figured he could protect himself."

"You figured wrong, and now he's dead!" The cat yelled, pointing to the remains they stood next to that were still smoldering.

"The idiot was already dead when he asked if he could come with you!"

"He asked us-!"

"He asked _you_!" Lydia shouted. "Not us."

"We're a team Lydia!"

"A team?! I do all the work and heavy lifting, while you take all the credit!"

Linxio was appalled. "I do not take all the credit!"

"Oh yes you do."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do _not_!"

"Do _too_!"

"Do _**not**_!"

"Do _**too**_!"

Linxio threw her hands up and started to storm away. "Forget you! I can do this myself!"

"You sure can!" Lydia called after the Thane. "Especially when you're going the wrong way!"

"I'm going the right way!"

"We'll see about that." The housecarl muttered while turning on her heel and heading the opposite way Linxio had for Eldergleam.

* * *

Lydia had figured that since Linxio was going the wrong way anyway, she should stop for the night and sleep until morning. She had found an abandon house that sat next to one that seemed to be lived in. The vacant building belonged to a woman who ran a lumber mill adjacent to it and was happy to let Lydia stay in it until morning, it's not like the workers who occupied it were coming back from the war anytime soon.

Linxio, on the other hand, had walked back to the abandon prison she had been looking at when the pilgrim died. She decided to stay there for the night, but she soon learned that it was… otherwise occupied. Unlike the luck Lydia had, she stayed up until morning trying to find the exit before getting killed by quite a few vengeful ghosts who had been haunting the building.

Lydia headed out that next morning and crossed a bridge over to the hot-spring filled land across the river.

Linxio swam across.

Lydia hadn't been bothered by any creatures as she made her way to the sanctuary.

Linxio, though, ran into quite a _big_ problem.

* * *

**Relatively Near Eldergleam Sanctuary**

**7:13 AM**

"_Stupid freakin' Skeevers gettin' in ma way tryin' to keep me from that stupid sanctuary_," the cat cursed as she wiped her blade clean of the rodent blood that coated it. "This is _the_ worst Fredas I've ever had."

Linxio began to sheath her weapons, continuing towards the sanctuary_. This day could not get any worse_.

A sound surrounded the half-Khajiit, one that seemed all too familiar even though she had only ever heard it once. A whooshing sound came from above her, and then the _roar_. The ground shook violently beneath her.

She blinked and slowly turned around. Right in her face was a gray dragon, grinning smugly at the cat before giving her a roar that almost made her loose her footing and caused all her fur to get blown back, leaving her with quite a look.

"I was so wrong." She said grimly as the dragon flew back into the air. Linxio decided this was a good chance to release all the anger she had been holding in with her blades which she had once again unsheathed. She looked up furiously at the behemoth flying up above her. "HEY YOU GIANT GOOD FOR NOTHIN' FREAKIN' LIZARD THAT HAS NO PLACE ON THIS FREAKIN' PLANET! GET DOWN HERE AND FIGHT LIKE THE MONSTER YOU ARE!"

The gray-green creature spun in the air and came straight for her with a ground shaking roar. Linxio held out her swords in front of her and charged for her enemy. The two clashed in the middle, and with the dragon being the superior, the half-cat was tossed backwards. Her swords went two different directions when she hit the ground.

"Alright then," she said, getting up painfully. "We'll play this your way."

* * *

**7:23 AM**

Lydia heard the roar and frantically searched the sky. Up ahead of her was a dragon that was circling an area in front of her.

"_Linxio_," she said running towards the creature and through the hot-springs.

She made her way over a hill just as the monstrosity landed, and just in time to see the half-Khajiit go flying. The housecarl grabbed her bow and loaded up an arrow. But before she had the chance to fire, something strange happened.

The cat pulled something off her neck, and then Linxio wasn't Linxio anymore. She was Linxio, but something about her changed. She suddenly seemed bigger, more powerful. She was still herself, but just not. And she even continued to grow until she burst through her armor and was definitely not Linxio any longer.

A creature stood there, facing the dragon. It was twice as big as a Nord, but an obvious member of the cat family. Its fur was completely tan and it had a long, dark mane. Its paws were the size of a small child's head, and its claws as long as the same child's forearm.

It took a half step back and lowered its head, letting out a roar that showed defiance and anger, before it proceeded to tear at the dragon. The winged lizard let out an agonizing cry as the monster Linxio had become physically and literally tore its scales off its body and throat. The beast crawled up the neck of the creature and when it reached the head of the dragon, it completely pulled out the horns on the reptile's head.

"_Holy…_" Lydia muttered in disbelief as the giant cat snapped the winged lizard's neck. "_By the eight…_"

The creature hopped down to the ground and surveyed its handiwork as the dragon began to burn. The beast became smaller and there was Linxio again, absorbing the soul of the…victim.

Without completely knowing what she was doing, Lydia called out to the Thane, who didn't have much in the way of armor left on. "What was that?"

"Some questions should not be answered until the proper time." Linxio called back. "This is not that time." She turned away from the now skeleton of a dragon heading in the direction she had thrown the object that had hung around her neck when she tore it off. She bent down and picked something off the ground, then tied it around her neck.

Lydia approached her friend, who she was still a bit wary of, and barely picked up something she said:

"-barely left me with anything left. This was a new set of armor, too."

"What?" The Nord asked.

Linxio just shook her head. "Nothing. I gave you an extra set of armor, right?"

"Yeah," Lydia said, searching around in her satchel, then handing a set of banded iron armor to the half-cat. "Here."

"Thanks." The Khajiit mix pulled off the remaining pieces of her leather armor and replaced it with the new set. "Alright, so we were heading to Eldergleam?"

Lydia nodded. Linxio clapped her hands together.

"Ok, let's go then."

* * *

**Eldergleam Sanctuary**

**9:17 AM**

The rocky hall the pair of adventures had been travelling down expanded into a huge, open cave.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Linxio exclaimed, stopping in her tracks and looking around. Lydia stopped next to her and also admired the sanctuary with as much awe astonishment as her friend.

It seemed like there was a whole entire forest growing in it. There were roots growing around the rocks, trees were all around as well. Light streamed in from cracks that were present in the ceiling of the cavern.

"I've never seen anything quite like that." Lydia finally commented as her eyes landed on the huge, blooming tree that's giant roots entangled the rocks which surrounded it.

"You are not joking." The cat agreed. "This place is so beautiful." The housecarl nodded, not looking away from the tree but continuing on with the half-Khajiit.

The two crossed a short, rickety bridge and were approached by a man who seemed quite welcoming.

"Hello there, friend. Have you come to enjoy the sights and sounds of this beautiful sanctuary as I have? Truly remarkable, isn't it?" He asked.

"Well, any ordinary day, I would have come here to enjoy the 'sights and sounds', but no day is ordinary for me." Linxio replied.

"Us," Lydia corrected a bit jokingly.

The cat laughed. "Yes, us."

"Welcome to Eldergleam Sanctuary." The man continued. "If you have any question, speak to Asta."

The two renewed their trek through the cave and came across a different person. A woman this time, dressed in a blue dress. She was observing the waterfall in front of where she sat.

"'Scuse me." Linxio called, catching the red-haired lady's attention.

"Amazing that such beauty could exist in a place as desolate as the volcanic tundra." She said, seemingly lost in thought but still recognizing their presence as they came closer.

"How true," Lydia concurred.

"Yes, it is," Linxio cut in anxiously and somewhat rudely. "Now we have business to do. No time for idle chit-chat. This _is_ Eldergleam, right?"

The red-haired woman they guessed was Asta nodded. "Yes. What is it that you would like to do here?"

"It's not what we-"

"You." Lydia corrected.

"-_We_ would _like _to do. It's what we _need_ to do." The gray cat motioned to the giant cherry-like tree set up upon the cliff. "That's the Eldergleam right?"

"Yes, my friend. No one has been able to get close to her for as long as I can remember." Asta informed.

"The roots?" The Nordic housecarl asked.

"Yes. They block any path up to the tree." She tapped a pale finger on her chin. "Although, I've heard rumors that there's a weapon that even Eldergleam herself would lift her roots for. But more out of fear than respect."

Linxio nodded and headed past the woman. "That's all I needed to hear."

Lydia followed her Thane and Asta turned around to watch the two women. "Where are you going?"

The Khajiit mix whipped out the black dagger and walked fervently towards the first root. "Making the tree move!"

She reached the first root and leapt for it, using a bit more force than necessary when she brought Nettlebane down on the plant. It curled up, flinging dirt from the ground around.

"Piece of sweetroll." Linxio muttered happily, proceeding towards the next root.

"Don't you hurt that tree! Nothing good can come from it!" Asta yelled after them.

"Oh yeah, the tree's gonna get mad at me." The cat turned and yelled before hitting the next root. Lydia stood next to the cat quietly. Linxio should have just barely tapped the tree with the blade, but she brought it down with full force onto the plant whenever she came near a root. The two found their way up to the tree's base in no time. The Khajiit rubbed her hands together and made her way towards the gigantic tree that was surrounded by thriving flowers. She dug the dagger into the trunk of the tree. "Alright, I'll just take some of this sap and be on my-"

"Linxio! Behind you!" Lydia shouted. Green sparks that behaved like bees swirled about the cat, making Linxio spin around and came face-to-face with a creature that seemed to be made of twisted and knobby wood, but not fully constructed into a solid creature. It swiped its claw-like hand at her face, knocking her off her feet and into a large rock that sat nearby. She hit it hard, sliding down to the ground limply.

Linxio's vision became fuzzy and her head started pounding. There was a shrieking noise, somewhat like nails on a chalkboard, and she started to think Lydia had also been attacked, then began to look for her. She could barely distinguish Lydia attacking the figure, which she could differentiate of by its glowing chest, with a warhammer she had. Even though it was blurry, she could tell her friend was losing.

The cat got up wobbly and faced the beast. She held out her hands, pointing them in the rough direction of where the creature had been standing when she was on the ground. She racked around her brain for the words until they came to her. Fire began shooting out her clawed hands and she something burst into flames. Linxio continued to let the flames flow as she slowly made her way closer to the fight, where she pulled out her sword and jab it into the burning creature's body. The glow faded and the blob fell to the ground. Linxio almost did the same when she stumbled to her left, falling into the arms of a different unidentifiable mass.

"I gotcha." Lydia said, helping her friend stand back up, pulling one of her arms over her shoulder and wrapping her own arm around the cat's waist. "Let's get out of here."

The two began a slow descent down the path when they came across another glowing blob. Lydia set her friend on the ground and charged the beast, knocking it off the side of the rocky cliff. Linxio could see it flailing as it fell. Lydia returned to her companion.

"Don't move. I'll be back in a moment." She demanded.

"No," Linxio countered. "Last time I did that, the person died."

Lydia wouldn't press on with this matter until another time, but didn't back down. "You're staying here."

"_No._ And there is no way in this world you will make me." The cat said, starting to head down the path shakily. Lydia followed hurriedly and stopped in front of her.

"Lydia-"

"Just get on my back. And watch how you use that spell." She interrupted before the half-Khajiit could argue. Linxio hopped onto the Nord woman's back and she rushed down the slope just to be encountered by another plant-like being. Lydia pulled out a dagger she had strapped to her belt and threw it at the creature, lodging it in the middle of its forehead. At the same time, Linxio was blasting it with fire. They passed the corpse and came across two more of these brutes.

"Take the one on the left with your bow." The cat commanded from behind her friends as she got down from her back, her vision getting better. "I've got the right."

Lydia nodded and loaded her bow. Linxio readied her hands.

"On three?" The gray and black striped Khajiit asked.

"On three." Lydia confirmed.

With unison, Lydia and Linxio shouted, "_THREE!_"

The two attacked their enemies with full force, Lydia with her arrows and Linxio with her spell. It worked until Linxio's magicka was completely drained and Lydia had run out of bolts.

"Swords!" Linxio commanded urgently. They unsheathed their weapons and charged for the monsters. Their enemies, which had been under constant fire, were weak, and seemed no match to the two. The blades entered the creatures' bodies and their green glows dissolved into nothingness.

Lydia and Linxio were both breathing heavily, and the cat was forced to sit down on a nearby rock. "That…was…too…hard…"

"You don't look too good." The dark haired Nord said, walking over to her friend. Linxio tried to push Lydia away, but she just blocked the cat's hands. "Stop, let me look at your eyes." Linxio put her hands down and let the housecarl examine the Khajiit's eyes. "Look up at the light." The half-cat obeyed and tilted her head back. Lydia's expression was grim, making Linxio agitated.

"What?" She asked warily, beginning to rub the back of her head. Lydia stepped back.

"You've got a concussion." The woman replied.

"That's all?" Linxio question rather rudely, trying to stand up but only to be pushed back down by Lydia.

"You need to rest."

"We have to get the stuff back to Domica."

"That can wait. We'll just stay here until you get a bit better. And I have to keep you from falling asleep."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'm not going to do anything, but I'm thinking that it's about time you start explaining everything you can to me about yourself."

"Everything?"

"_Everything_."

* * *

**You know, I have a teacher named Ms. Asta. She's also, coincidentally, my science teacher.**

**Now that I've got that out of the way, I just want to say I'm glad to be here again! I know it's been a **_**long**_** time since I've updated, but you have to admit, this was one freakin' long chapter. 5,104 words!**

**That's more than twice as long as my longest chapter up to this point! That should seriously count towards something.**

**Oh, and everything Linxio's going to explain to Lydia, is stuff you'll find out about later. Like what happened with the dragon. You'll find that out **_**much**_** later.**

**Until then, I have chapters to write. See you soon!**

**Next Time:**

_**7,000 steps? Man, I've got to count them now.**_


	19. XVIII: The Steps are a Lie

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**Spiderwebs' by No Doubt**

* * *

**Road to Ivarstead**

**10:40 AM, Middas**

**26th of Last Seed**

"I'm so tired," Linxio complained, dragging her feet along the stone road from Eldergleam.

"I'm not going to carry you." Lydia informed the half-cat.

"Pleeeaaase!" The gray Khajiit mix begged, grabbing and hanging onto the housecarl's arm.

"No." The Nord shook the clinging cat off, making her land on the ground on her face, and proceeded forward. Linxio caught her ankle and held on tight.

"Lydia!" She continued pleading. "PLEASE!"

"No!" Lydia jerked her foot away, knocking the cat back.

Linxio laid helplessly on the ground, and Lydia stopped to look back at her friend.

"You're not asleep are you?" The housecarl asked.

"No, I'm dying." The cat replied, which made the Nord roll her eyes.

She walked back over to the Khajiit and grabbed both of her arms, then began dragging her along the road.

"No one cares," Linxio wailed dejectedly. Linxio stopped suddenly.

"Linxio get up." She demanded nervously.

"What's the point?"

"Linxio I'm serious."

Linxio reluctantly got her feet under her and began to stand up again. She looked ahead of them as she did.

"Is that a troll?" She asked when she had fully gotten up and was shielding her eyes from the sun to observe the creature lurching around a shallow cave.

Lydia nodded. "Yep."

"You know what we do in this situation?"

"Oh yeah."

"RUN!" The two yelled in unison, turning on their heels and sprinting away.

* * *

**Ivarstead**

**11:23 AM**

"I can't believe it took us so long just to avoid that troll." Linxio commented wearily as she and her friend finally entered the settlement. Lydia just nodded.

The two began to pass a tavern and Linxio subconsciously started walking towards it, only to have Lydia grab her collar and drag her away.

Linxio and Lydia walked down the road of the quiet town until they spotted round, stone structure set into the side of a hill behind a few houses.

"Is that one of the old ruins?" Lydia asked.

"Let's go see!" Linxio shouted excitedly, trying to run for the barrow but only to be grabbed by her housecarl very quickly.

"Hold on there. You said we were going up to High Hrothgar before anything else gets done." The Nord reminded.

"Yeah but-"

"Linxio."

"But I-"

"_Linxio._"

The half cat crossed her arms and huffed. "**Fine.**"

Lydia let go of her friend and the two began their trek again.

Without warning, Linxio spun around and began sprinting back towards the hill.

"Linxio! What are you doing?" Lydia called, running after the half-cat.

"I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT'S IN THERE!"

* * *

**The 7,000 Steps**

**3:16 PM**

"One hundred and 3, one hundred and four," Linxio counted happily while leaping onto each step and balancing on one foot when she landed. "Lydia, you have to admit, one hundred and five, it was pretty cool what we found in that barrow. One hundred and six…"

"Sure," the housecarl agreed unemotionally. "Potions that make us look like ghosts. Always wanted that."

"Oh, come on Lydia. I think that's pretty neat. One hundred and seven."

"Why do you insist on counting all the steps?" The Nord asked, irritated.

"Because," the cat said. "One hundred and eight, I want to see if there really are, one six hundred and nine, seven thousand steps."

"You're going to count _all_ of the steps?"

"No, just the ma–one hundred and ten–jority."

Lydia rolled her eyes and loyally followed her friend.

* * *

**3:55 PM**

The windy, snowy mountain was silent, apart from the severe wheezing and gasps of one cat who was not used to climbing mountains. A gray, furry arm reached over the next step and held onto the hard ground tightly, then began pulling the rest of the body it was connected to onto it.

"…_Huff…huff…huff..._three…_pant_… hundred…thirty…six…._huff huff…_" Linxio puffed.

"Come on," Lydia said, a bit winded herself. "You don't have to make it so dramatic."

"It's so…_huff_…hard…" The Khajiit mix moaned, reaching for the next step.

"We could take a break."

Linxio pulled herself up to the next step while Lydia stood next to her. "NO!"

The housecarl shrugged and began to walk onwards. "Ok."

Lydia had only taken a few steps when she felt something grip her ankles. She looked down to see the cat hanging onto them. The Nord sighed and tried to continue forward, but was slowed down significantly.

"Linxio…" she said. The cat let go and laid face down in the snow for a bit before even having the notion to get up on her own. Linxio slowly managed to get to a shaking, standing position. "We'll stop at the next emblem, alright?"

The cat nodded, still out of breath.

* * *

**Almost to High Hrothgar, Outside of it Actually**

**8:48 PM**

Linxio and Lydia sat on the top step leading to the doors of High Hrothgar, both on the verge of hyperventilating.

"There were only…._pant pant pant_…seven hundred…and ten steps…._pant wheeze_…" Linxio puffed. "_**Why?!**_"

"Maybe…you should've counted each individual…_puff_…step…" Lydia panted.

"That's….idiotic…" the cat mix said, giving a forced hiss.

"We at least got…one tenth of it….right…."

Linxio began to dig around in her satchel, then pulled out two green vials. She handed one to Lydia.

"Stamina…potions…" the Khajiit said, weakly pulling out the stopper on her bottle. "Don't want…the Greybeards to think…we're out of shape…"

"Cheers…" The housecarl tapped the glass with Linxio's and the two downed the drinks greedily.

Linxio jumped up with a smile. "I feel better already!"

Lydia leapt up next to her with her hands in the air. "So do I! Did you put something else in this?"

"I have no clue! Maybe I did!" She replied excitedly. "Let's go inside now!"

* * *

**Inside High Hrothgar**

**8:56 PM**

One pair of the double doors of High Hrothgar were almost ripped off their hinges, and were so loud, everyone lost concentration.

"HONEY! I'M HOME!" Linxio screamed at the top of her lungs. "YOUR DRAGONBORN IS _HERE_!"

Angier looked at the cat with bemusement before gathering the courage to approach the strangely behaving woman and the armored Nord behind her.

"So…a Dragonborn appears at this moment, at the turning of the age." He said to the Khajiit mix.

"_This_ is the Dragonborn you've been waiting for?!" An wound-up, feminine voice called out angrily. "_**This**_ is the Dragonborn you've been waiting for?!"

"Yep!" Linxio smiled at the woman, who was storming towards them. When she came closer, the cat finally figured out who she was. "Wait…hold on, what are you doing here Braste?"

"Braste is also Dovahkiin, which is why she came when we called for you." The old man informed Linxio.

"My mind has been blown." The cat uttered in wonderment. "Now I have questions. Many."

"Such as…?"

"Why is it called the Seven thousand steps, if there are only seven hundred?"

"You have to count each one individually, moron." Braste snapped, crossing her arms.

"Thanks know-it-all." Linxio hissed, giving the Nord a glare. "Also, what does it mean, 'Dragonborn'?"

"First, let us see if you truly are Dragonborn. Let us taste of your voice." The man commanded. Lydia and Linxio looked at each other.

Braste rolled her eyes. "Shout at him."

The two nodded their heads and turned back to Angier. Linxio took a half step back and opened her mouth.

"_**FUS!**_"

Her shout made the Greybeards, who had now gathered in the main hall, stumble a bit, along with several urns falling over. Braste stood like a stone with her arms crossed, not fazed by the word.

"Dragonborn. It is you. Welcome to High Hrothgar." Angier greeted.

Linxio smiled. "Thank you."

"I am Master Angier. I speak for the Greybeards. Now tell me, Dragonborn, why have you come here?" The old man asked.

"I am answering your summons, Master."

Braste, even being quite annoyed, sided up next to Linxio and Angier to hear what he had to say.

"We are honored to welcome both of the Dragonborns of the time to High Hrothgar. We will do our best to teach you how to use your gift to accomplish your destinies." He began.

"Destiny? What _is_ my destiny?" Linxio asked curiously.

"That is for you to discover. We can show you the Way, but not your destination." The man in the dark gray robes replied.

"I am ready. And I'm assuming Braste is as well?" Linxio supposed. The dark haired Nord smiled.

Angier shook his head. "There is not much left in the ways of training left for Braste. When we found she was Dragonborn at her younger age, we did our best to teach her then."

The half-cat looked thoughtfully over at the counterpart. "You really are a know-it-all then, aren't you?"

"I most certainly am," Braste said proudly. "Amateur."

Linxio's ears flattened against her head and Angier decided to continue. "You have shown you are Dragonborn. You have the inborn gift. But do you have the discipline and temperament to follow the path laid out for you? That remains to be seen."

Braste gave a small laughed, causing Linxio to glare at her.

"Without training, you have already taken the steps towards projecting your Voice into a Thu'um, or Shout. Now let us see if you are willing and able to learn." The old man informed. "When you shout, you speak in the language of Dragons. Thus, your Dragon Blood gives you an inborn ability to learn Words of Power."

Linxio stared at him blankly.

"You know, like _Fus_." Braste said with a gentler tone than she had used before. The cat seemed to understand.

"All Shouts are made up of three Words of Power. As you master each Word, your Shout will become progressively stronger." He looked over at one of his associates. "Master Einarth will now teach you 'Ro', the second Word in Unrelenting Force.

* * *

**Yes people. I counted the steps. There **_**are**_** only 710 full lengthwise steps. **

**So, Braste and Linxio are BOTH Dragonborn. Surprised? I'm not. But I'm the one writing the story, so I shouldn't be.**

**Next Time:**

_**Brasteness! Featuring:**_

_**I know who you are now…Fyrna.**_

**and**

_**Braste…you're…uh….a uh…**_

_**Yeah. I am. Get used to it.**_


	20. XIX:The Secrets Behind Braste Dawnvictor

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

**'Rumor Has It' by Adele**

* * *

**High Hrothgar**

**1:27 AM, Tirdas**

**27****th**** of Last Seed**

Lydia stood patiently in the main hall of the old building, awaiting her Thane to return from the courtyard. A chilly wind entered the room and caused the Nord to shiver a bit. Though she had been raised in Skyrim her whole life and was used to this kind of weather, it was much colder up on the mountain.

"Lydia! Watch this!" The cat's familiar voice echoed blissfully. "_**WULD**_**!**"

The housecarl had barely enough time to look up and see the cat standing high upon an urn before she was right in front of her. With the so quick movement, Lydia had to take a step back.

"Isn't that cool?" Linxio asked, even though she saw Lydia's shocked expression.

"Uh…sure." The dark haired Nord said, glancing up at Braste standing next to the door who shrugged.

The cat grabbed Lydia's arm and began running for the exit. "Let's go! We have to go to Ustengraav and find a horn!"

"Oh…ok!" The housecarl uttered before the doors slammed behind her right when she had gained her footing again.

"Poor Lydia," Braste said as Angier entered next to her. "Having to deal with that crazy Khajiit all the time."

"You're going to have to go with them." The Greybeard informed.

"I was expecting that." She replied, heading down the stone steps following the direction the other two had gone.

Angier looked at her quizzically. "You are going to Ustengraav, aren't you?"

"Yes, but I don't want to be early and have to wait for days." Braste said once she reached the door and looked back at her teacher. "Keep in mind how long it took her to get _here_."

Angier nodded with a smile, then Braste exited the buildings and headed for Windhelm.

* * *

**Palace of Kings, Main Hall**

**7:12 AM, Tirdas**

Galmar and the dark haired woman emerged from the War Room partaking in one of their favorite pastimes:

Discussing war tactics

In fact, at this moment, they were in a very deep conversation about it. Mostly focusing on how to use catapults strategically while not managing to hit your own troops and possible use of the slings on wheels. Braste had more input on the ideas than the red haired Nord war veteran did. She even seemed to know exactly what she was talking about even though she used many large words Galmar did not understand.

The two were approached unexpectedly by Ulfric and their discussion ceased.

"Yes?" Galmar asked somewhat rudely, basically forgetting he was speaking to a Jarl.

"I was hoping to ask Braste of something." Ulfric replied, trying to dismiss how his friend had spoken to him.

"What would that be, my Jarl?" Braste in turn inquired.

"Would you mind taking a walk with me for a moment? I'm sure Galmar won't mind waiting a bit to continue your conversation." The blond said, giving Galmar quite the look.

Braste smiled. "I would love to take a walk with you, my Jarl."

"Good. Please come with me." He said escorting the woman to the doors to the city.

They walked out into the sunny afternoon and began their promenade through the snowy streets. Once they had made it out of the courtyard, Braste allowed herself to gaze around for the first time in years.

"What is it that you wanted to speak to me about, Ulfric?" The dark haired Nord asked, looking back at her accompanying person.

"Nothing much," Ulfric responded, watching her as she began to look around again. "Have you ever been to Windhelm before you joined the rebellion?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"See I don't think you're telling the truth." The Jarl observed. "You act like you have."

"I may have come here once, or twice." Braste quickly retorted, biting the right side of her cheek so he wouldn't see.

"Oh, alright," he said. "I'm not interrogating you. You can relax."

"I know," she once again responded a bit quickly, making Ulfric become a little suspicious. They both turned back to the scenery around them.

The Jarl looked back at the woman and noticed a ruby necklace looped around her neck by twisted black leather strips. What really caught his eye was the wolf paw that was engraved into the stone.

"That's a beautiful necklace." He commented. Braste's hand grasped it and she rubbed her fingers around it.

"Thank you."

"It reminds me of one I gave to a girl for Saturalia." Ulfric began.

"Really?" The woman asked, not looking over at the Jarl.

"Yes. It looked, almost exactly the same as that one, too."

"What a coincidence."

"Coincidence, right." Ulfric said, knowing how nervous he was making Braste. Her hand dropped from the necklace to her side, and she grasped the arm with her left hand.

"You what else?" He said. "Whenever she got edgy, she would grasp her upper right arm."

Her cheeks began to turn pink.

"Of course, she was attacked by a pack of wolves. You were probably never attacked by wolves, right?" Braste held onto her arm tighter and bit her lip.

Ulfric stopped, but she walked on for a few more steps.

"I know that's you, Fyrna."

The Jarl smiled when she came to a standstill.

Braste chuckled. "I was wondering when you would figure it out." She turned around and grinned as well. "I didn't think you were _that_ stupid."

Ulfric laughed. "You always have to insult me, don't you?"

"Of course," she said, placing her hands on her hips.

"How long has it been?" He said somewhat solemnly.

Braste shook her head. "Too long. Almost twenty years."

"Has it really been that long?" Ulfric asked.

She nodded.

"You look so different from then." He stated, placing his hand on her cheek, then letting it return back to his side.

Braste looked down at her hand and pulled off a silver garnet ring. "I haven't looked like myself since then anyway."

Once the ring left the woman's finger, she began to undertake a physical change. Her hair became much shorter than it had been and was not as loose. This also made prominent the fact its color had turned from so dark to a shade that resembled caramel. The design on her cheek reverted to black war paint. She looked back at Ulfric and he saw her eyes were back to the calm and determined emerald he had always known.

"Now that's the Fyrna I know." He smiled, as did Braste. "What happened to that untamed mane of yours?"

The woman laughed. "I cut it off. It became a bit of a distraction when I fought."

"Even with that ring on?"

She looked at the ground with an expression as if she was ashamed of what she was about to say. "I didn't always wear it."

The Jarl didn't press on with the subject, knowing how touchy she could be if he pried. "I must ask, though, what happened to you?"

Braste began playing with her hands. "After the Dark Brotherhood got me back, they made me stand at the edge of a cliff. And there's where they would shoot me and let me fall to the river below.

"Astrid decided to let Babette take the shot. That vampire decided she pitied me, so when she shot, she missed my heart on purpose. I landed in the water and floated downstream for the whole night. I woke up at dawn on the bank of the White River and found this ring," she held up the silver loop. "Around the shaft of the arrow, which was sticking out of my sternum. I put it on and I changed.

"My chest was still covered in dry, and new blood. I was shaky and I swore I was going to die. That obviously wasn't the case when these two kids, who were only a couple of years younger than I was then, found me on the shore ready to pass out from blood loss. They called their father over and then they took me to Jorrvaskar."

"Sorry for my intruding," Ulfric interrupted. "But 'Jorrvaskar'?"

Braste nodded. "Farkas and Vilkas were the ones who found me.

"I stayed with the Companions for a few years after that, then I joined the College of Winterhold. I was…" she paused and thought, debating on whether to tell her longtime friend the truth about what really happened after the college. "…investigating something for the Companions when I got caught in Helgen."

"You're telling me you've been in Skyrim this whole time?"

The woman hesitated before nodding.

"Not once did I ever see you." He observed. "Not until Helgen."

She shrugged. "Maybe it just wasn't meant to be."

"What wasn't?" Ulfric raised an eyebrow to her comment.

"Seeing each other again," Braste replied. "Or maybe something else. Maybe we were, but didn't. Before now at least."

"You seem very edgy. Either that or your matter of thinking has changed dramatically."

The light haired girl crossed her arms. "I'm not edgy. Just rather annoyed with your matter of speaking to _me_."

"How so?"

"Treating me like we're the greatest of friends. You didn't even try to find me after the Dark Brotherhood kidnapped me."

"That's really what you think isn't it? That I didn't try to save you from them?"

"Yes, actually."

"Your far from the truth on that matter. I did look for you, but wait…Fyrna Direknight didn't exist anymore! Seems like you brought that on yourself."

"I didn't bring anything on myself."

"Sure you didn't," the Jarl agreed sarcastically. "Joining the Dark Brotherhood and botching several contracts _never_ made them have a reason to execute you."

Braste poked at Ulfric's chest. "The only reason that I was kidnapped to be executed was because I refused to perform the contract against _you_!"

A silence filled with years of anger and hate washed over the two. Their grudges came up to the surface once again, turning a once walk into a tense and heated moment. Neither one of them spoke, but there was plenty of fury travelling between the man and woman.

As if a wind passed by, the resentments began to dwindle. Braste pulled back from her old-time friend, letting her hand fall back to her side. Ulfric unclenched his fists which had been crossed across his chest like Braste's had been. There was still a rage that settled in their hearts, but they both realized this was not the time to stir those feelings up anymore.

"I should go." The woman began, placing the silver ring back onto her finger and changing back to the dark haired version of her. "I have to go save the world. And a cat."

"The same one from Helgen?" Ulfric asked, trying to keep from asking too many questions.

"Yeah," she crossed her fingers. "Here's to hoping nothing bad happens."

The Jarl laughed. The woman began to leave, when he called after her. "You should let your hair grow out again."

She looked back and smiled, then continued remorsefully and slowly on.

* * *

**Well.**

**This chapter would have been finished sooner if I hadn't have had second thoughts about where this story was going. **

**I'm thinking I'm going to rewrite a very chapters here in a little bit, not sure though. Depends on which ones would have an effect for later on in the story.**


	21. XX: Quest Status-FAIL

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**Out of my Head' by The Black Eyed Peas**

* * *

**Outside Ustengraav**

**8:46 PM, Tirdas**

**27****th**** of Last Seed**

One shadowy figure stood, pacing around the entrance of the barrow. She not only seemed aggravated, but tense as well. Every once in a while, she would look up at the sky where the two moons shone overhead. One was waning, and one was almost full.

"They're cutting this real close." Braste muttered under her breath, still staring at the orange tinted celestial satellites.

She often wondered if the surfaces of the moons were planes of Oblivion. Maybe one of them was Hircine's hunting grounds. Or one was Coldharbour. Though neither of those really would make sense anyway.

_Hircine's Hunting Grounds,_ the wall of a girl thought, sitting down on a crate nearby, _kind of has a ring to it._

There was a shuffling above her, and Braste stood back up, moving out from under the stone stairs. Right when she was about to start an angry tirade about how long it took them to arrive, she saw the state they were in once they walked into the lantern's dim light.

If people could somehow be in a state of total disrepair, this would be it.

It looked like neither of the cat or housecarl had bathed for days, even though it only had been this morning since Braste had last seen the pair. Each of their arms up to their shoulders were dotted with scars and cuts too numerous to bother counting. Linxio's armor was on the verge of falling off her shoulder, and Lydia's left much to be desired combat wise. Their weapon choices had changed from the half-Khajiit's dual blades to a one handed axe, and the Nordic woman's from a bow to war hammer.

"What happened to you two?" Braste asked with a surprising amount of genuine concern she didn't even know she had.

"Uh…well…" Lydia and Linxio looked at each other, neither knowing how to start.

The cat spoke first, rather timidly. "I tried to take a shortcut."

"Through a briar patch?" The darkest haired woman questioned.

"There was one of those." Lydia recalled not happily.

"Across the mountains. It didn't work too well." Linxio continued.

"There were trolls. A _lot_ of trolls."

"Frost trolls to be exact."

"And they didn't like us too much."

"Then we went to Morthal and fought a bunch of non-cooperative vampires."

"Non-cooperative, how?" Braste pressed on with a bit of wariness.

"They wouldn't die." The other Nord replied.

Linxio rubbed her neck. "I think one infected me."

"She found some nice clothes, though."

"After I pulled them off a corpse's body, yes. Not much in the way of spoils I guess."

"The mask was interesting though."

"I guess."

"We could wait a bit before we head in so you two can heal some." Braste suggested, attempting not to be fazed by what they said.

Their eyes went wide and they shook their heads fervently. Linxio cut through the air with her hand.

"Under no circumstances are we waiting!" She yelled.

"Last time we waited, there was a dragon."

"He _really_ did not like us."

The only unharmed woman held up her hands in defense. "Ok! No waiting. We'll go inside."

* * *

**Ustengraav Depths**

**9:33 PM**

Braste had gone a bit ahead of their small expedition to scout out the area and possibly prevent the other two from dying. When they did come upon danger though, she took up the front assault with Lydia picking off enemies with her bow and Linxio using a combination of magicka and her war axe. She even summoned a familiar a few times just to keep away from the main force of the fight. During, before, and after these fights, they had to make several side stops so Linxio could rummage around through burial urns, much to Braste's disapproval, and loot corpses.

It was strange how in the short time they knew each other, the housecarl and cat had made a bond. After one of them had defeated the draugr or some enemy, they would go and help the other out. To Braste, at least, this was strange. She was used to fighting and travelling mostly by herself.

She was used to it once, that is. But not being accompanied by someone was usual for her.

The trio found themselves deeper into the Nordic ruins, and that's when Lydia and Linxio seemed to be returning to a relative normal.

"I've never seen anything quite like that before." The housecarl said as the three looked down over a ledge what seemed to be trees growing inside of the cavern.

"Eldergleam." The gray Khajiit mix stated.

Lydia nodded. "Oh right."

Braste looked at the two quizzically. "You've been to Eldergleam Sanctuary?"

"Yeah!" Linxio replied enthusiastically. "We'll have to take you there sometime."

"After you two get done saving the world, that is." Lydia confirmed.

"After _we_ get done saving the world, Lydia. All of us. Why do I have to correct you so often about that?" The cat asked, heading down the stone ramp from the outlook.

"I don't know Linxio." The housecarl said with a smile, loyally following her Thane. "I just don't know."

Braste shook her head at the two.

She felt a prickling sensation on the back of her neck, but tried her best to ignore it. Her right arm began to get the feeling of the muscles turning into a giant knot under her skin, subconsciously making her massage it. The dark haired Nord knew what time it was getting near, and she was prepared for it.

She would have been more ready if she was alone though.

Braste found herself dodging broken and torn bodies of draugr and skeletons as she headed after the other two crusaders. They'd been busy with their fighting or looting. Or both really. Knowing Linxio, the woman guessed the latter.

Cries of joys came from down in the lowest section of the cave. Braste tentatively looked over the rocky ledge down into it. She spotted several trees and other growing plants, a Word Wall which she would no doubt go down and visit, Lydia picking off zombies easily with her bow, and finally Linxio striding out from _under_ the waterfall proudly.

The cat looked up at Braste and gave a partial waved since her arms were full of treasure. The woman above her waved back.

"Get down here! I found a Shout thingy!" Linxio beckoned loudly.

"It's a Word Wall you moron!" Braste shouted down, making her way over to the slope leading into the crater.

"Oh hush it, know-it-all!"

She let out a laugh and added, "Don't call me that."

"I'll call you whatever I want!"

"Why do you say that?" Braste stopped in front of the ancient stone wall, studying the inscriptions.

"Because," Linxio started, walking up to the woman and stuffing treasure into her satchel. She threw some over to Lydia, who caught it easily. "I'm Linxio Wyrdfire and I can do whatever the heck I want."

The housecarl and Braste began to howl with laughter. The half cat just smiled and shrugged innocently. "It's true."

"_Sure_." Braste nodded sarcastically.

Linxio threw her arms over the girls' shoulders. "Let's go get that Horn now, shall we?"

* * *

**9:51 PM**

_Dragonborn,_

_I need to speak to you. Urgently._

_Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood, and I'll meet you._

_-A friend_

"Let me get this straight," Linxio began, handing the note back to Braste. "Someone got here before us?"

"Obviously," The Nord replied, folding the letter and stashing it in her satchel. "Whoever our, '_friend_', is, they must've known we would be coming here."

The half Khajiit looked around in a confused manner. "How'd they even get in here without altering any draugrs?"

"I don't know. You'll have to ask them yourself." Braste replied unemotionally.

"Hold up," the cat held up a finger. "We're going to _meet_ them?"

"Of course." The dark haired woman opened the wooden doors she believed lead out of the room.

"Don't you read?! Nothing good ever happens when a character goes to a meeting with someone who left them a note!" Linxio called while, after a moment's hesitation, following Braste. Lydia trailed behind the two.

The woman the housecarl and cat were following stopped to face them. "I'm usually the one who sets up meetings like this, so I know how shady people like this one work. If they really wanted to kill you, they would be here waiting for you."

"What do you mean by kill me?" The gray Khajiit asked.

"They only mention one Dragonborn, i.e. you."

"How do you know-"

"Because I never revealed to anyone who wasn't up at High Hrothgar when I first found out myself that I was Dragonborn."

"You are so confusing."

"I know. Let's go to Riverwood."

* * *

**By now I know that all of you know what Braste is. But I'm going to drag it out a bit.**

**Oh, and Bronylicious? This is all I have to say about your comment (it's not anything **_**bad **_**like with Chris the Cat):**

**Huh.**

**(Comment Ends)**

**You know, I sent a PM to Chris the Cat to apologize for what I said in that chapter. **

**He's a real jerk.**

**Read on my friends, and don't be a Chris the Cat.**


	22. XXI: Blood Thirsty, Literally

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**Crawling' by Linkin' Park (For the last section of the chapter)**

* * *

**Ustengraav **

**10:06 PM, Tirdas**

**27****th**** of Last Seed**

"So…" Braste started awkwardly as the three headed out from the barrow. "Do you want to split up and meet there or something?"

"Braste this isn't a war zone," Linxio stated with a tone that tried to make the Nord look like an idiot. "Trust me. I know about wars."

"Like what?" The woman asked with a laugh.

"Well back at home," the cat began. "We used to have these fights between these opposing peoples-"

"Oooo…Fights. Like that's what really makes up a war."

"You'd have to know the backstory if you really wanted to understand it."

"Mm-hm."

"No, really! Me and my buddies always got right into the middle of it. On purpose too. We would provoke each side to _want_ to attack the other. Then it would just be like a role-playing game-" she pointed to herself proudly with her thumb. "My team's winning."

"You mean you think of war as a contest to pass the time?"

Linxio glanced up at the sky and thought about this for a few seconds. "Yeah. Isn't that what it is?"

"War is _so_ much more than that. It takes so much planning and strategy."

"So war's just a big party to you?"

"No!"

"You said planning. You plan parties."

Braste stared at the cat with a bewildered expression. "That's what you got from it? Parties?"

"I guess you're right. You plan more than parties, don't you?" She began to count on her fingers. "There's book clubs, books themselves, business days, charity balls, circuses, classes, club nights, concerts, conventions, daily schedules, dances, dates, décor, dinners, fights, heists, houses, luncheons, meetings, menus, receptions, rodeos, shopping trips, shows, vacations, wardrobes, weather, weekends, and oh! How could I forget weddings? I love weddings."

"You came from a rich family, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah. Powerful is more like it. How could you tell?"

"Your speaking rich people talk, like charity balls or dances. Or shopping trips. Plus, that was all in alphabetical order."

"Really?" Linxio had a huge grin on her face. "Wow!"

"So now that you've made your list," Braste began, cautiously making her way down a steep bank of a creek. "What would you classify war as?"

"A big…" the cat jumped off the hill, completely missing the bank and landing in the water, splashing it onto the Nord. "Wedding!"

"War, is a big, wedding." The woman repeated, shaking the water off her. "That's great Linxio."

"I know. Weddings always are." She placed her hands on her hips and had a smile on her face. "Lydia! What do you think war is?"

The housecarl, who had been quiet all this time and standing on the hill above them was somewhat speechless. She really didn't expect to be included in this conversation. "I think it's both. There's a lot of strategy and planning involved, but people in the end do come together, like in a wedding."

The two on the lower ground stared at her and blinked, taking in the wisdom. For a brief moment, Lydia thought these two would realize that she was right.

She was wrong.

"I still think it's just one big wedding." Linxio stated, crossing across the creek before her legs snapped off from frostbite.

"Whatever." Braste said, following the cat. Lydia sighed and came down the slope after them.

"I went to this one wedding one time, it was awesome!" The half-Khajiit started as she made her way to the opposite bank. "The bride had just walked down the aisle when this guy came in, and she ran to that guy – who was _not_ the groom may I mention – and she _kissed_ him! Right in front of everyone! You should've seen what happened after that. It, was,_ priceless._"

"That's just wonderful Linxio." Braste commented, siding up behind the cat. "What did the groom do?"

"Well, the groom was my best friend, so that wasn't too good...and we're still not sure if the guy she kissed was really a guy…there was a cow, an apple tree, a dwarf…it's a long story."

"What?"

"Yeah, that was a crazy weekend."

"I'll bet."

"Although not as crazy as the one where we played _Truth or Dare._ That weekend shall _**never **_be repeated. _Ever_."

"Alrighty then."

"We've had worse though-"

"Linxio," Braste said, stopping the cat in mid-sentence and from walking. "I don't _care_."

"Oh…" Linxio began to fidget a bit. "Ok."

They continued side by side with Lydia trailing behind. It was rather silent apart from the cold winds brushing by and the crunching of dead grass under the group's feet. The night was chilly, only lit up by the now full moon. The Nord Dragonborn ignored that little tidbit, trying to focus on their journey.

The three began to traverse into a forested area where Braste spotted a stone structure rising up before them.

"What is that?" She asked, not really to anyone in particular.

"Been there," the half-Khajiit replied. "There was a ghost, who led us to what I presumed to be his grave. And two bandits."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

They passed around the circular construction, heading in the rough direction of Morthal. Snow began to fall as the group headed through the deeper and colder parts of the forest. To the left, as Braste realized, there was a huge city-like, stone building complex up in the mountains.

She pointed to it. "Why don't we go up-"

"**No**." The cat and housecarl cut off at the same time. The Nord shrank back.

"Ok, and why-"

"**Because**."

"There were _**frost trolls**_ up there."

"_**Frost trolls **_don't like us." Linxio said.

""Linxio said.

_**We**_ don't like frost trolls." Lydia added.

Braste held up a thumb. "Got it."

As she walked away from the glaring two she whispered to herself, "Stay away from trolls, must remember that."

A figure, so much farther down the dark road he was just a shadow, stood before the group. There wasn't a definite form to him, but Braste could partially tell he wore robes.

Linxio and Lydia walked up behind the stopped Nord.

The housecarl squinted. "Is that-?"

"M'AIQ!" Linxio shouted, running down the snowy path with her arms out in front of her, then smacking into the other Khajiit and giving him quite a bear hug. Lydia soon hurried after the cat, possibly to save M'aiq from being suffocated with hugs.

Braste stood and watched for a minute or two before slowly walking towards them.

"-how strong or smart one is." The male cat said. "It only matters what one can do."

"Very true my friend." The housecarl responded. Linxio nodded.

"Dragons were never gone. They were just invisible and very, very quiet." He stated.

Braste eyed him curiously. _What is he on?_

* * *

**Skyrim Wilderness**

**11:13 PM**

The three had passed (sprinting) through Morthal, which Lydia and Linxio had already been to, trekked (sprinting) through a swamp, and found their way to a fort, Fort Snowhawk, by sprinting.

The group was completely winded, except Linxio, who was downing stamina potions while watching the other two women breathing heavily.

"Why in Oblivion did we sprint all the way here?" Braste asked, barely being able to get that full sentence out.

"I run everywhere." Linxio replied before taking another drink of the potion.

"She does," a winded Lydia stated.

After the Nords had gained their breath, the trio stared at the fortification in front of them.

"Do we really want to go in there?" Linxio questioned, which made Braste give her a questioning look that the cat didn't even notice. "Yes, yes we do."

They began to progress towards it. When they snuck up the hill to the garrison, Braste began to get a strong chill running up her spine. A lustful need for blood emitted a vile taste in her mouth. She stopped moving. The Khajiit mix looked back at the other Dragonborn

"What? Got some weird gut feeling or something?" She asked.

Braste didn't move. She felt the urge coming on, and it was inevitable.

Lydia and the Thane exchanged glances while watching the expressions change on the Nord woman's face.

"She looks like she's going to be sick." The housecarl whispered to the cat. Linxio was quiet.

All of the sudden, Braste tore past the two to the entrance of the crumbling stone fortress. After a moment's hesitation, they chased after her.

They saw only the aftermath of the transformation.

* * *

**1:56 AM, Middas**

**28****th**** of Last Seed**

The fighting felt good. The killing felt good.

Unleashing the beast felt _even_ better.

After holding it back for as long as Braste had done, it was easy to forget that sickly beautiful taste of flesh and blood.

It was delightful.

The Nord got up from the ground after changing back to herself, armor torn and hanging loosely on her body. She held her head back and breathed deeply, the air was filled with the glorious stench of blood so thick it practically ran down her throat like syrup. Or maybe there was still some in her mouth that she swallowed.

She was content.

There was a shuffling noise behind her and she spun around quickly, baring her teeth even though she wasn't in her canine form. Linxio and Lydia stood in an archway, both with disgusted and fearful looks plastered on their faces.

"What?" Braste asked darkly with a happy twist to her tone. "Is there something in my teeth?"

The two continued to stare at the woman.

"Who are you?" The half cat questioned with intensity.

"Huh?" She looked down at herself, remembering she wasn't wearing her enchanted ring. "Oh right. It's still me."

"Braste? You mean you're…you're a…you're a…"

"Yeah. I'm a werewolf. Get used to it."

* * *

**Honestly, that last part made me sick to my stomach. Blech. **

**Braste has one sick mind.**


	23. XXII: Sahloknir

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

**'Chalk Outline' by Three Days Grace**

* * *

**Riverwood**

**3:00 PM, Middas**

**28****th**** of Last Seed**

Braste had thoroughly explained herself, well mostly, to a still wary Linxio and Lydia on their way to Riverwood. She was exhilarated from the fight, still, so many details of what she said were overly exaggerated.

They stood outside on the porch of the wood and stone built inn. It seemed they were each waiting for the other to make a move. The silence between the women was evident, though no one exactly knew why there was this tension. Were they unsure of trusting whoever had stolen the horn? Was it that they didn't really want to meet the person who took it in fear that the culprit would be better than them? Or were they really just cowards?

"We've come this far and no one's even bothering to open the freaking door. I'm not going to sit around waiting to meet this person." Braste grumbled, seeing if either of the other women would make a move. She huffed when they didn't and flung the door open herself, striding in with confidence and a feeling of superiority. The cat and the housecarl looked at each other before walking in behind her, trying to muster the same feelings.

There weren't many people in the tavern, aside from a no-nonsense barkeep, a blond woman with the same feel about her, and a lonely bard just sitting idly around. The Dragonborn Nord eyed each one before making her way over to woman she assumed to be a suitable one to speak to.

The innkeeper stood next to a fire that was blazing in the open stone hearth which occupied most of the hall's center area. She wore her hair pulled back in a low ponytail which caused her rough, angular face. Her was clothed in a blue dress with a brown, corset style middle.

"So you're the ones who've been pokin' around." She remarked, placing her fists on her hips.

Braste, in turn, crossed hers. "So?"

"I'm the innkeeper; it's my business to keep track of strangers." The woman continued in her gruff fashion.

_That voice, _Linxio thought, _it seems familiar. But why?_

"I'd like to rent the attic room." Braste stated.

"Attic room, eh? Well if you haven't figured it out yourself, we don't _have_ an attic room. But you can take the one behind you. Make yourself at home." The innkeeper said, taking the gold Braste offered.

The three turned away from the woman and headed to the rather cramped room that contained only one bed that sat closely to a table and chair, which was diagonal from a chest at the foot end of the not-so-comfy-looking bed and a wardrobe behind the opened door.

"Please tell me we aren't going to have to wait long in here." Braste pleaded very quietly. "I really can't stand this cat."

"So you're the Dragonborn I've been hearing so much about." The woman's voice came from behind. The three turned back to her.

"You mean _we're_ the Dragonborns you've been hearing so much about." Linxio corrected with a bit of a quizzical tone. The innkeeper arched an eyebrow.

Braste motioned to herself and the Khajiit mix. "We're both Dragonborn."

The blond nodded, strangely unfazed by what she just heard, she pulled something out from behind her. "I think you're looking for this."

In her hands was a curved, swirling horn. It was dark in color, and when Linxio took it from her, smooth in texture.

"We need to talk, but not here. Follow me." The woman, who kept getting more mysterious stated.

"Yes ma'am." Braste replied with a haughty attitude.

* * *

**3:51 PM**

"The Greybeards seem to think you're the Dragonborns," the woman, who they had been told was named Delphine, started. "I hope they're right."

Linxio, Braste, and Lydia had followed the shady person into what they presumed to be her room through a wardrobe with a false back, into a heavily weaponized, stone wall room. Delphine was leaning on a table over a map while the adventures stood on the other side watching her.

"The Greybeards are right. We are the Dragonborns." The cat said a bit defensively.

"I hope so." She replied. "But I hope you forgive me for not assuming that just because the Greybeards think so. After all, I just handed you the horn of Jurgen Windcaller. Does that make me Dragonborn too?"

"No, don't be stupid." Linxio rebuked, receiving a swift jab in the ribs courtesy of the other Dovahkiin's elbow.

"You better have a good reason for dragging us out here." The brunette Nord threatened.

"It was the only way I could make sure it wasn't a Thalmor trap." Delphine assured. There was a low growl from Linxio, but no one really took notice of her irritation at the association's name.

"I am not your enemy." The innkeeper continued. "I already gave you the horn. I just need you to hear me out!"

"We're listening." The Nord confirmed.

"Like I said in my note, I heard you might be Dragonborn. Forgive me, though, for not knowing there were two of you." She said. "I'm part of a group that's been looking for you….or someone like you, for a very long time. If you really are Dragonborn that is. Before I tell you anymore, I need to make sure I can trust you."

"How do we know we can trust _you?_" The gray cat countered.

"If you don't trust me, you were a fool to walk in here in the first place."

Linxio grumbled.

"She has a point." Braste stated.

"Why were you looking for us?" The Khajiit questioned.

"We remember what most don't – that the Dragonborn is the ultimate dragon slayer. You're the only ones who can permanently defeat a dragon by devouring its soul." Delphine suddenly looked hopeful. "Can you do it? Can you devour a dragon's soul?"

"That's none of your business." Linxio snapped, getting yet another smack in the chest from Braste.

The Nord spoke. "We can. That's how this cat found out."

"Good. Then you'll have a chance to prove it soon enough." The woman said.

"What aren't you telling us?" Braste probed sternly, leaning a onto the table with one hand to emphasize herself.

"Dragon's aren't coming back. They're coming back to life." Delphine said with drama in her voice. "They weren't just gone somewhere for all these years. They were killed off centuries ago by my predecessors. Now something's happening that's bringing them back. And I need you to help me stop it."

"Do you even hear how crazy that sounds?" Linxio asked, bewildered.

The innkeeper gave a small chuckle. "A few years ago, I told the same thing to a colleague of mine. Turns out he was right and I was wrong."

"What makes you think these dragons really are coming back to life?" Braste continued with her questions.

"I know they are. I visited their ancient burial mounds and found them empty. And I figured out where the next one will come back to life." The woman guaranteed. "We're going to go there, and kill that dragon. If we succeed, then I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"How did you figure all this out?" The cat had her arms crossed in a manner that suggested she didn't believe the woman.

Delphine stood up. "You should know. You helped me get the map. The dragon stone for Farengar, remember?"

Linxio snapped her fingers. "That's where I know your voice from!"

"So you were paying attention." The blond said, moving her hands to her hips.

Braste laughed. "Shocking." The half-Khajiit glared at her.

"I had arranged for Farengar to get the dragon stone for me. It's what I do. I make things happen from behind the scenes. After all, her you are." She waved her hands at the group.

"I can respect that." The Nord nodded.

"The dragon stone was a map?" Linxio asked.

"Yes. A map of ancient dragon burial sites. I've marked off the ones that are empty. The pattern is pretty clear. It started off in the Jeralls near Riften. The next one is near Kynesgrove, if the pattern holds."

"So we're heading to…?" Braste trailed off.

Delphine finished for her. "Kynesgrove, like I said. If we get there before it happens, we might learn how to stop it."

The woman rubbed her hands together. "Well, let's go kill us a dragon!"

She smiled, as did Linxio. "I need to get my travelling gear together. Give me a minute and I'll be ready."

* * *

**Kynesgrove Dragon Burial Mound**

**11:00 PM**

Delphine, Braste, Linxio, and Lydia cowered with weapons in hand behind a rock in the snowstorm, watching the giant black dragon in the air. His wings were large, as was his voice.

"_Sahloknir! Ziil gro dovah ulse_!" It called down. "_Slen tiid vo_!"

'_Spirit bound dragon eternity-of. Flesh against time.'_

"Crap." Braste muttered unhappily, remembering her advanced knowledge of dragon tongue.

Something like a shock wave that resembled the Unrelenting Force shout soared through the air, towards a mound below, causing the dirt and snow to tremble.

"This is worse than I thought." Delphine stated grimly.

The ground became disturbed, cracking and breaking apart. A bony wing broke out from the surface, finally feeling the wind and cold after hundreds of years. More of the skeleton rose to the over world from the crust. It crawled towards its master, looking up to him loyally. The skeleton's skin and membranes grew back onto him as the creature did.

"_Alduin, thuri_!" the grounded dragon called. "_Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik_?"

'_Alduin, my overlord! An age time ago kill power-of-kings ancient?' _It translated in the Nord's head, which she shook. _I've really got to stop this literal translation._

"_Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir_." Alduin roared back.

"What's the face for, Braste?" Linxio whispered, making the woman realize that she was concentrating too hard on the words.

"I understand dragon language. I know what they're saying." She replied. '_Yes, Sahloknir, my trusted ally._'_ Liar._

The dark winged lizard turned towards Braste, who stood up.

"_Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi._" He inquired to the Nord. _So, my false Dragonborn? I do not recognize you as dragon._

"_Zu'u fen ni kos mindok ol losei._" Braste yelled level-headedly. _I will not be known as false._

"_Zu'u drey ni tinvaak wah hi, nuz fin kaaz_." _I did not talk to you, but the cat._

The Nord looked back to the half Khajiit, then back into the sky.

"_Ek_?" _Her?_

"_Geh._" _Yes_.

"What's he saying?" Linxio asked in a harsh voice, trying to be quiet.

"He's ridiculing you, and calling you a fake Dragonborn." Braste replied.

"You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah." Alduin jeered to the gray cat.

Linxio didn't respond.

The dragon turned to his counterpart on the ground below him. "Sahloknir, krii daar joorre."

_Sahloknir, kill these mortals._

"Shoot."

"What's wrong Braste?" Linxio questioned nervously as Alduin flew off and Sahloknir turned towards them.

The Nord began to back pedal slowly. "Let's just say he's not going to do exactly what any good ally would do if his friend was attacked."

"That's a really long way to say he's going to kill us." The cat stated, unsheathing her dual steel swords.

"Yep." Braste drew her orange glowing Dwemer sword and faced the reptile, not moving back anymore.

Sahloknir beat his wings as the higher up left and shifted himself into the air in his place in an almost elegant way, as if he was bragging with his body motions.

"Here we go," Delphine said, readying her bow.

The beast flew around to the fighters' backsides. Braste spun around, firing a wave of lightning up at the dragon, which encircled its body. Lydia and Delphine fired arrows at the lizard. Sparks shot from Linxio's claws towards him. Sahloknir opened his jaw and an icy mist struck the group that was grounded.

"So you're a frosty, eh?" Braste muttered to herself. "Two can play at that game."

The dragon, his color dull looking from the ever present miniature blizzard, beat his monstrous wings to soar over the assembly. He turned near the edge of their personal battlefield, heading back for them.

The beast slowed to lower himself, but kept in the air. "I am Sahloknir. Hear my voice and despair!"

"Hear mine instead!" Braste shouted at the dragon. "_Yol, Toor __**Shul**__!_"

Fire shot through the air, colliding with Sahloknir in the process. His body was enclosed with flames and he took off flying again in an attempt to put them out, which worked successfully. The Nord below, on the other hand, had doubled over in a coughing fit. Lydia rushed over to the collapsed Dragonborn, shooting arrows into the air to keep the sky bound creature away.

"Are you alright?" The housecarl asked. Braste nodded, even though Lydia really see it.

"Yeah…but now my throat burns. It's been a long time since I've Shouted, and that was kind of a bad choice to start with." The Nord arose, and prepared spells instead of Shouts this time.

Sahloknir had traversed back to where he first stopped in the air, but now his injuries were visible. Braste could almost see pain in his expression, but that was before she got knocked back by a blast of ice. She regained her footing to shoot a wave of lightning and fire balls at the dragon.

He circled the slaying party. "Lord Alduin requires your death," the extremely deep voiced beast growled down to them. "I am glad to oblige him."

"That's great!" Linxio screamed, watching him fly. "We're glad you do!"

He dived down and blasted the group again. It was surprising they all still moved relatively quickly with all the cold hitting them.

Sahloknir, after almost smacking into the ground, flew over the cliff, then soared into the air, and came down practically on top of the fighters. Linxio was pretty much the first to react to it, pulling out a pair of steel swords and slicing at the beast. He turned towards her and discharged another surge of frost to hit her head on. She kept her hold on the ground as it washed over her. The Khajiit mix continued cutting up the dragon's muzzle with her swords after the cold was gone. He snapped at her, which she dodged, but their actions only made the other more irritated.

Linxio, finally fed up with Sahloknir, hit him once on his upper lip with such force his head jerk up then back down, and proceeded to swing herself onto his nose. He tried to fling her off in several failed attempts. One of her arms reared back, and her sword plunged through the dragon's skull, causing his body to instantly go limp. She hopped off as his head hit the ground. Sahloknir's scaled corpse began to burn like it did at the watchtower.

"Wait. Something happening…gods above!" Delphine exclaimed, though she was being a little too obvious.

"Yeah, it happened before." Linxio responded unemotionally.

"Who's getting the soul?" Braste asked.

"I am. I killed it." The cat said, still with no emotion. The skin glowed just as the ribbon-like lights twisted through the air towards the cat. As they encased her, she took a deep breath that seemed like one of relief. The corpse dissolved into a skeleton.

"So you really are…" Delphine, who held the one source of light that they now had, trailed off, bewildered. "It's true, isn't it? You really are Dragonborn."

Linxio rolled her eyes after she had made her way over to the group. "That's what we were trying to tell you."

"I owe you some answers, don't I?" The innkeeper dressed in leather armor stated. The others nodded. "Go ahead. Whatever you want to know, nothing held back."

"Who are you, and what do you want with us?" Braste questioned sternly.

She sighed. "I'm one of the last members of the Blades. A very long time ago, the Blades were dragonslayers, and we served the Dragonborn, the greatest dragonslayer. For the last two hundred years, since the last Dragonborn emperor, the Blades have been searching for a purpose. Now that the dragons are coming back, our purpose is clear again. We need to stop them."

"The Blades? Who are they?" The Nord continued asking.

Instead of Delphine answering, Linxio did. "The Blades protected the Septim Emperors, until that blood line died off during the Oblivion Crisis."

"Yes…how did you know that?" The blond woman curiously asked.

"My mother told me all about them." She replied, with just the slightest and almost unnoticeable hint of pride wedged in her voice.

Delphine nodded. "We've been searching for the next Dragonborn to guide and guard for two hundred years. But we never found one, until now."

"And now you're stuck with two." Braste laughed.

"What do you know about the dragons coming back?" Linxio inquired.

The warrior shook her head. "Not a thing. I was just as surprised as you to find that big black dragon here."

"We've actually seen him before, the one that got away." Braste remarked.

Delphine was shocked. "Really? Where?"

"Helgen."

"Interesting. Same dragon…" the fair-haired woman became furious. "We're blundering around in the dark here! We need to find out who's behind it all!"

Lydia cut into the conversation. "What's our next move?"

"The first thing we need to do is figure out who's behind the dragons." Delphine began. "The Thalmor are our best lead-"

Braste restrained herself from laughing while Linxio let out a low growl.

"-If they aren't involved, they'll know who is." The woman continued.

The darkest haired Nord finally let out her laugh, but the humor was in her words. "What makes you think the _Thalmor_ are bringing the dragons back?"

Delphine would've crossed her arms if she hadn't been holding a torch, so she just glared at the Dovahkiin for what she thought of as Braste being rude. "Nothing solid. _Yet_. But my gut tells me it can't be anybody else.

"The Empire had captured Ulfric. The war was basically over. Then a dragon attacks, Ulfric escapes, and the war is back on. And now the dragons are attacking everywhere, indiscriminately. Skyrim is weakened, the Empire is weakened.

"Who else gains from that but the Thalmor?" Delphine retorted. None of the others had an answer.

"Why are the Thalmor after _you_?" Linxio questioned.

"Before the Great War, the Blades helped the Empire against the Thalmor. Our grandmaster saw them as the greatest threat to Tamriel. At the time, that was true. Maybe it still is." Delphine responded. "So we fought them in the shadows, all across Tamriel. We thought we were more than a match for them. We were wrong."

"So we need to find out what the Thalmor know about the dragons." Braste reflected. "Any ideas?"

"If we could get into the Thalmor Embassy… It's the center of their operations in Skyrim…" She explained. "Problem is, that place is locked up tighter than a miser's purse. They could teach me a few things about paranoia…"

Linxio fidgeted immensely, but only Lydia took notice.

"So how do we get into the Thalmor Embassy?" The Nord Dragonborn asked.

"I'm not sure yet. I have a few ideas, but I'll need some time to pull things together…" The woman replied. "Meet me back at Riverwood. If I'm not back when you get there, wait for me. I shouldn't be long."

The Blade turned and left the trio. Linxio still continued to fidget, and this time Braste become aware of it.

"What's with you?" She asked with a little too much of an attitude.

"Nothing!" Linxio said in a weak, defensive manner.

The Nord eyed her. "Okaaay… won't ask then."

* * *

**:) I've got a secret about Braste and Linxio pertaining to the Thalmor! And I'm not gonna tell you!**

…**Sorry 'bout my random spaz attack moment there. Just excited about the next chapter.**

**Next Time:**

_**L: Thalmor…party?**_

_**D: Yes.**_

_**L: Well, it was fun but I have to go. Bye! (Runs off screaming)**_

_**B: I think that means I'm going alone.**_


	24. XXIII: Old Friends

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**Tomorrow Never Knows' by Carla Azar & Alison Mosshart**

* * *

**Sleeping Giant Inn**

**11:43 AM, Turdas**

**29****th**** of Last Seed**

Delphine, the Dragonborns, and Lydia were back in the basement of the Sleeping Giant Inn. Braste had herself sat on a table with her feet on the chair Linxio was on. Lydia sat on the floor obediently next to her. Delphine stood in front of everyone, addressing them all at once.

As she began speech, Braste had opened up a letter a courier had given her. She smiled when she read it, just because it was _so_ ironic to their situation.

"I've figured out how we're going to get you all into the Thalmor Embassy." The innkeeper said.

"I'm going?" Linxio asked with much concern in her voice.

"Yes." Delphine replied outright. The cat rubbed the back of her neck, then got up from her seat and paced a bit. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh nothing's wrong," she stated calmly before absolutely losing it. "Except for the fact that, theThalmorhatemeandwanttokil lmeandthattheyknowmyfacesowe llit'sonlyimprintedinthebacksofth eirmindsandeyelidsandtheyhav ememarkedforsomanycrimesIhav eaworldrecordsettingbountywi theveryoneandeveryplacewants toseemedeadapartfromSkyrimwh ohasn'tseemedtowanttokillmeyetbutI havenodoubttheywillreallysoo nandthatitwillprobablybeform anycrimesIcommittedinmyshort timeherewhichhaven'thappenedyetbutwillsoonand," she took a big gasp of breath and continued. "EveryonehatesmeandI'vedonealotofstupidthingsinth epastandIjustcameheretohideo utbutthatdidn'thappenbecauseIgotcaughtatHe lgenandthat'swhenAlduindecidedtotryandru letheworldagainsohedecidedto startwithHelgenwhereIwasabou ttogetmyheadchoppedoffbutina wayhesavedmewhichdoesn'treallymakemuchsensenowbutth enIhadtogotoWhiterunandthat'swhenIfoundoutIwasDragonborn andnowI'mhereandyouwanttosendmetothe ThalmorEmbassybutifItakeones tepintothatplacetheyaregoing toKILLME!"

When the half-Khajiit finished, Delphine and Braste blinked, but Lydia started to get up slowly.

Linxio smiled warily as she started to walk past the innkeeper. "So you know if you don't mind, I really don't think I'm cut out for this job, so I see you later, ok? Thanks, bye!"

The cat sprinted out in a gray blur and the group could hear doors flinging open and slamming as she ran off. Lydia started to walk past Delphine, heading back up to the main floor of the tavern.

"We'll be in Whiterun." The housecarl stated.

Delphine and Braste watched her leave in bewilderment.

_I'm going to be doing this alone. Wonderful._ The dark haired Nord sighed.

"Are you still going?" The innkeeper asked the remaining Nord once she had turned around and saw that she was still sitting there.

The Dragonborn nodded. "Yep. What's the plan?"

"The Thalmor ambassador, Elenwen, regularly throws parties where the rich and connected cozy up with the Thalmor. I can get you into one of those parties-"

Braste smirked.

Delphine eyed her. "Is something funny?"

She shook her head. "No, well, yeah. But more ironic than funny."

"What?" The blond innkeeper asked.

"I already have an invitation." Braste held up the letter she had in her hand.

Delphine's eyes got wide. "How did you get that?"

"You could say I'm one of the connected," she smiled.

* * *

**Thalmor Embassy**

**4:23 PM, Fredas**

**30****th**** of Last Seed**

Braste entered the Thalmor Embassy dressed in attire she hadn't worn for quite a long time. She forgot what it felt like to wear fancy clothes like these - she'd been dressed in armor for months, and practically nothing else. It was much, much more comfortable than iron and steel.

The Embassy was quite a familiar sight to the Nord, having come here every once in a while when her…friend invited her to come along with him. When she saw Elenwen, it brought back memories of parties before this one, and it made her smile.

"Well well well, if it isn't Braste Dawnvictor." The High Elf smiled falsely, approaching the Nord who had just walked in.

"Elenwen!" She exclaimed, returning the sarcastic tone. "It's been so long!"

Elenwen looked the Dragonborn over with a mild but venomous glare. "You haven't changed a bit."

Braste laughed bitterly. "Neither have you!"

"You'll have to tell me-"

"Madame Ambassador, I'm sorry to interrupt…" Malborn, the elf who stood at the bar interjected.

"What is it, Malborn?" The woman questioned, irritated.

"It's just that we've run out of the Alto Wine." He asked. "Do I have permission to uncorked the-"

"Of course!" She snapped. "I've told you before not to bother me with such trifles."

Malborn looked away. "Yes, Madame Ambassador."

"My apologies. We'll have to catch up later. Please, enjoy yourself." Elenwen said drlyly to Braste before joining her party guests. The Nord watched her walk off, and then headed over to Malborn.

"What can I get for you?" He asked when she leaned on the counter top.

"I'd like a drink." She replied with a smile.

The elf gave her a goblet filled with something intoxicating. "Here you go, ma'am. The finest Colovian brandy."

Braste took the cup and turned around, locking eyes with another member of the Thalmor across the room who was with a one more. The red haired woman waved at her, then motioned for her to come over. The Nord obeyed and walked up to the pair of Altmer.

"I don't know if I've just have too much to drink, or this is the real thing." The light haired man named Athelle exclaimed upon seeing Braste.

"You probably had too much." The woman, Irinde, assured which made the Nord laugh.

"Oh, come on!" She smirked.

"It feels like we haven't seen you for ages!" Irinde remarked.

Braste rolled her eyes. "One month. You haven't seen me for one month."

"I think you're wrong about that. Seems more like a year or two, wouldn't you agree Irinde?" Athelle asked jokingly.

"Sounds about right," The woman agreed, scratching her chin sarcastically. The three laughed, but Irinde try to quiet them down. "If Elenwen sees us acting like this, she's going to kick us out of the Embassy again!"

Braste gave Irinde a look like she was kidding herself. "You two are getting drunk and haven't seen me for a while. I _think_ she'll forgive you for that."

Irinde and Athelle glanced at each other with smiles on their faces and uncertainty in their eyes.

"You should think twice about that," the male Altmer stated. "She's kind of been keeping a tight leash on us since _someone_ isn't here to keep us walking in a straight line."

The Nord looked at them, confused. "What do you mean?"

"He's been out searching for that stupid cat ever since she got away from us at Helgen." Athelle explained.

"Which is really what we should be doing, instead of trying to find the bottoms of our wineglasses," The elf woman shook her head, but didn't really put much seriousness into it. "All he ever seems to do is work. And work. And work."

"And work." The man added for more emphasis.

Braste knew exactly what they meant. The elf they spoke of always seemed to be working whenever he had the chance. She wasn't completely surprised to find out he wasn't here. "So where is he now?"

"Markarth…I think." Irinde replied, complete unsure.

"Or Falkreath." Athelle suggested.

"Why would he be in Falkreath?" The Thalmor woman questioned in a tone that made Athelle sound like an idiot.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Could be trying to pinpoint where those two stupid thieves kept their stash."

"How long has he been doing that?" The red haired elf asked.

"Forever." Athelle responded, swirling his drink as if finding it more interesting than this conversation. "Have you talked to him?"

"No, haven't seen him yet." Braste replied with a shake of her head.

"You must find him, stupid!" Irinde joked, shaking her friend by the shoulders.

Braste laughed, trying to shove her friend off of her. Athelle just watched them, while grabbing another drink from a tray a woman walking by was carrying.

Irinde eventually did stop, and Braste saw this as a perfect time to ask a favor of them when the female elf grabbed herself another drink. "Would you two mind doing something for me?"

"Anything." Athelle and Irinde said in unison.

"Cause a distraction for me." The Nord whispered.

They blinked. "That's it?"

"I should have guessed that would be you're reaction." Braste smiled.

"One second," Athelle interjected. "We could get kicked out again."

"So?" Irinde questioned. The man looked at her.

"Good point." He nodded. They turned back to their friend and Athelle grabbed her goblet. "We're going to need that."

The two downed their drinks, and Athelle finished off Braste's. They swallowed and looked at each other with suspicious smiles.

"One more?" The Thalmor man asked his compatriot. She nodded, and they grabbed two more drinks each, then drank them quicker than the last ones. One glance at each other, and Braste knew they were completely buzzed.

The elves waltzed past her, slightly unbalanced. They reached the middle of the room, all eyes on them. Except Braste's, who was making her way over to Malborn trying to stay out of sight by walking behind everyone else. Once she was over there, she took a look back.

Irinde and Athelle had started singing.

She smiled, knowing this was their best non-talent that would no doubt keep everyone distracted with their absurdity, unprofessionalism, and drunkenness. Braste turned to Malborn, who, after receiving a look from her, knew it was not his place to ask.

* * *

**Thalmor Embassy, Dungeon**

**5:19 PM**

The man chained to the wall sighed. "There's this old man. I've seen him around Riften. I don't know where he lives. I don't know his name. Yes, he matches the description of this Esbern guy you're looking for. Maybe it's him. Maybe it isn't. That's all I know, ok?"

"You've been very cooperative. Thanks." Braste said, upon hearing a sword being unsheathed.

"Why don't you just kill me already?" He pleaded as she turned around and dropped low to the floor. She crept to the archway of the plank chamber and took a quick look out. There was an agent on the platform overlooking the dungeon, standing next to Malborn with his hands bound together.

"I'll be right back." She whispered, sneaking out and over to the stairs, using the shadows and torture equipment for cover. Once she went up the stairs, she leapt out and hit the armored guard, knocking the elf to the ground where she proceeded to slice his throat with her steel sword she had unsheathed herself.

She spun around just as Malborn had run and another guard came after her. Their weapons clashed as Braste tried to protect herself from the elf's mace. There wasn't enough time, though, for the agent to realize that the Nord had an ice spike readied, and that it shot right up into her skull.

Braste saw Malborn down below with his hands untied and an axe at his side. She skipped the stairs and jumped to the floor below.

"We need to get out of here." The elf remarked with urgency.

"Hold on." Braste exclaimed, heading back to the man who she had spoken to moments before.

"I told you, I don't know anything else about it." He stated wearily.

She knelt down in front of him. "I'm not here to torture you. Those days have been over for me for a long time."

"What? Wha…" he asked, confused. "What do you want then?"

"No time to explain." The Nord woman replied, standing back up and tweaking with his bonds. "Let's get out of here."

The prisoner fell to the ground when the manacles came undone. Braste and Malborn helped him to his feet.

The three had made their way out of the small room when the man nodded his head at a trap door in the ground. "Over there. I've seen guards use it to get rid of bodies. It must lead somewhere."

"Good job." The woman stated, leading him and Malborn over to it. The elf let go of the two, making Braste be the sole crutch of the injured man, and tried to open the exit.

"It's locked." He said, unhappy with his discovery.

"Wait," Braste said, making Malborn hold the man they were helping before she knelt down over the door and pulling out a key. It fit right in the lock and opened with a satisfying click. "There."

"How'd you get that?" The elf asked.

"A guard had it on their corpse." She replied as she yanked open the passage way entrance. Malborn helped the escaping prisoner down into the underground tunnel on the other side of the hatch. He followed the man, and then Braste came down after a slight hesitation.

The three proceeded through the tunnel, quicker now since the prisoner convinced them he didn't need help. They were in such a hurry they almost didn't see the ledge that came up right at the end of the passageway. Braste looked around, then just jumped to the ground below into a more opened area. Malborn and the other man followed.

There was a growl behind them, and they each turned around slowly.

A frost troll stood up and roared in their faces, covering them with slobber.

Braste was the first to move, then the ex-prisoner. They sprinted for the bright exit.

Malborn wasn't with them.

The Nordic woman looked back just as the white troll grabbed the elf and tore him apart from the limbs.

"Sorry Malborn," she muttered as she ran into the welcoming sunlight with the other escapee. "But that was kind of stupid."

* * *

**Every time I do that quest, Malborn dies.**

**Great job, elf guy. **

_**(This is why I don't pick dumb followers.)**_

**On another note, Athelle and Irinde's song. You have two choices of what they could be singing:**

**1. **_**Why Can't we Be Friends?**_** by Smashmouth**

**Or**

**2.**_** The Real Slim Shady**_** by Eminem**

**Review your choice. It's up to you. :)**

**Next Time:**

_**Pickpocketing? Pfft. I was born doing that job.**_


	25. XXIV: It Takes A Thief Prologue

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

'**Ain't No Rest for the Wicked' by Cage the Elephant**

* * *

**Whiterun – Breezehome**

**5:45 AM, Loredas**

**31****st**** of Last Seed**

"Open up amateur, I'm done with the Thalmor!" A voice called outside Breezehome. "We have to go to Riften!"

Lydia opened the wooden door and came face to face with Braste. The housecarl turned back to the inner hall of the house. "It's Braste!" She informed the half-cat who was upstairs.

"Still sleeping!" Linxio shouted. Lydia rolled her eyes and motioned for the other Nord to enter.

"I'll get her up, just wait a moment." The housecarl assured Braste, heading over to the cooking pot in the center of the room that was being held over a fire by iron frame work. She took a seat in the chair near it and dropped something into the boiling pot.

"What are you doing?" The Dragonborn asked, watching steam rise from the water.

There was a frantic noise upstairs and then Linxio shot down the steps leading up to the second floor. Before Braste had time to blink, the cat had the pot in her hands and she was breathing the fumes deeply.

"Where did you find this?!" The Khajiit mix inquired.

"I'll tell you later." The housecarl pulled Linxio away and towards the door.

"What was that?" Braste asked, following them out the door.

"Catnip." Lydia replied.

* * *

**Riften Stables**

**7:26 PM**

"We're here!" Linxio exclaimed, hopping out of the back of the horse drawn, wooden carriage. Braste and Lydia mimicked her actions by getting out behind her. The three adventurers approached two shady looking guards protecting the entrance of the stone walled city.

"Hold there," one said. "Before I let you into Riften, you need to pay the visitor's tax."

"What?!" Braste cried out. Linxio busted out into laughter. Everyone in the vicinity stared at her with wide eyes and confusion.

"_**I've**_ organized better shakedowns than this!" She howled.

The guard grabbed the hysterical cat by a shoulder. "Quiet! Do you want everyone to hear you? I'll let you three in, just let unlock the door."

The second guard looked at the first skeptically as he made his way to the gates, then whispered to him. "You're letting a Khajiit into the city?"

"We let that other one in." The first replied. The woman pulled back and nodded with a shrug. The male guard fiddled with the lock then turned back to the three women. "The gate's unlocked, you can head inside when you're ready."

"Thank you!" A satisfied Linxio said with not as much enthusiasm as she had before, (the guard called her a Khajiit, so can you blame her?), pushing past him with the other two following.

"Welcome to Riften, home of the Thieves Guild." The Nordic female guard stated, making Linxio's ears perk up. "Or so they'd have you believe. They're just thugs…vermin, creeping around the Ratway."

The half-Khajiit grinned. "Noted."

"Keep it moving, moron." Braste urged, shoving Linxio through the doors she and Lydia had been opening. With one look around, the cat fell in love with the rugged city. And she was barely even in the gates.

"It's even better than Bravil." She observed with a smile.

"We're glad you approve," Braste said, once again driving the cat onwards.

* * *

**The Bee and Barb**

**8:12 PM**

Linxio smashed the doors open, giving everyone in the Bee and Bard a jolt. Some almost lost their drinks from their sudden, somewhat hostile, guest.

After a quick glance, she spotted Sapphire and crossed over to her, grabbing her by the throat and shoving her half way up the wooden post holding up the wall.

"Look, I don't want to get mean…" Linxio started with a devious smirk.

Make that guest, completely hostile.

"…but you really shouldn't be hounding Shadr about his debt."

Sapphire tried to pull the cat's hand away, but to no avail, and her face started to become a bit red from anger and embarrassment.

The gray Khajiit shook her head. "No, see, that won't work. I've been to the Arena. This is nothing." She eyed the struggling woman for a bit. "Are we clear on my point?"

The dark haired woman gave a forced nod, now realizing she was losing oxygen.

Linxio smiled bigger. "Good." She said, letting go of the thief who then hit the floor hard. Linxio turned back to her housecarl and the other Dragonborn. "So!" She began, clasping her hands together. "Where were we?" Braste pointed nonchalantly over to the Argonian barkeep, who stood stunned behind the counter. The cat led the three over to her.

"We need information," the cat mix stated strongly, leaning on the bar top with her fingers interlocked with each other.

"About what?" The deep voiced, lizard woman asked uncertainly. Linxio looked at her for a while, not knowing really what to say, so she glanced over at Braste, who rolled her eyes.

"We're looking for a man named Brynjolf." The Nord stated. The Argonian barkeep pointed past them to the other side of the tavern. The three turned around and laid eyes on a red haired man leaning against the wall. Linxio and Lydia exchanged glances, and the half-cat smiled. She pushed herself off the counter and strode towards Brynjolf.

"Never done an honest day's work in your life for all that coin you're carrying, eh lass?" The bearded man that, as the group had discovered, had a very thick accent.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Linxio exclaimed, pretending to be offended.

He played along. "You've got the coin but you didn't earn a Septim of it honestly, I can tell."

The Khajiit eyed him suspiciously, now slightly concerned of the well-being of her coin purse. "My wealth is none of your business."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, lass. Wealth is my business." Brynjolf replied. Linxio took a step back, convinced this man was a con artist. "Maybe you'd like a taste?"

She glanced to the side, then turned back to him with a sly smile on her face. "What do you have in mind?"

* * *

**:D**

**...Brynjolf...**

**He's just so amazing and Irish. (:**

**So I told myself I really have to catch up in my writing, and whatever day I post on, I have to post on the same day the next week. If I post earlier than that, I have to post on both days. - Let's see how well that works.**

**See you next week!**


	26. XXV: It Takes a Thief Pt 1

**_I: Before the Fires of Dawn_**

_'_**_Ain't No Rest for the Wicked'_ by Cage the Elephant (Basically the theme song for the miniseries)**

* * *

**Riften Marketplace**

**8:55 AM, Sundas**

**1****st**** of Heartfire**

Braste leaned up against the sketchy railings that divided her from standing and falling into the canal that ran through Riften. She kept looking around for Linxio and Lydia, who had wandered off last night to 'talk to a guy about a horse' as the half-cat had put it. Braste really didn't want to understand what that meant, but she was definitely going to ask her once she got back.

"I can't believe that I got that guy to just _give_ me that horse!" A familiar voice exclaimed, making the Nord look to her right where she spotted Lydia and Linxio coming towards her. The cat had a huge smile on her face, but the housecarl looked indifferent.

"He really had no choice after you _killed _him for it." The Nord said.

"Hey, he went after me first."

"You provoked him."

"Alright," Braste interrupted once the pair got closer. "What's this about?"

Linxio smiled. "I got a horse."

"And she robbed a house." Lydia informed with an exasperated tone. "And she killed a man."

"And," the half-Khajiit interrupted. "I got a _horse_."

"Which means I still have to run after her everywhere, but faster now since she'll be riding," the housecarl paused. "a _**horse**__._"

Braste shook her head and smiled. "You two fight like an old, really strange, married couple."

"Whatever," Lydia grumbled.

"Linxio, didn't you have to do something today?" The Nord Dragonborn reminded.

The gray cat blinked a couple of times. "Oh right! I've got to do a little thieving today, don't I?"

Lydia clapped her hands sarcastically. "Wow, Linxio. You're such a genius. Please, do something amazing for us."

"What's your problem?" Linxio questioned her friend.

"Besides the fact that I haven't slept for days and I was up all night trespassing with you just to find out you're thieving again today?" Lydia asked dryly. "Playing babysitter to an idiotic half-breed like you."

"Oh, I see where this is going." The Khajiit started. "Relying on petty insults because you're just jealous of my abilities."

"Jealous?" The housecarl repeated. "Oh right. Because I've _always_ wanted to be 'Tamriel's most wanted criminal' like you. It's been my dream since I was a kid."

"Oh shut up." Linxio growled. "I have business to do that could help _save_ our stupid world."

"Right, I forgot you're the _Chosen One _of history sent from the prophecies to save us all from the bigbad_ dragon_."

"Okay you two!" Braste interrupted while stepping between them. "Lydia, I want you to stay here with me. Linxio, go talk to Brynjolf and do what he wanted you to do."

Linxio gave one last growl to Lydia before sulking off towards the market square.

"Are you really that mad at her?" Braste questioned Lydia.

"No, but it certainly felt good to get most of that off my shoulders." The housecarl stated.

* * *

**8:59 AM**

"Okay lass, ready to make some coin?" The red haired man inquired.

"I'm always ready." The cat smiled, leaning against the wood frame of Brynjolf's market stall.

"Good. Wait until I start the distraction and then show me what you're made of." The Nord informed.

Linxio took a few steps back and then tried to just look like she was part of the crowd that had filed into the square. This was a trick she had performed many times when she and her long ago friend/partner-in-crime when they were carrying out a little petty thievery. She was hoping this time she could pick up a little extra coin while still performing the main task that was asked of her.

"Everyone! Everyone! Gather 'round!" Brynjolf's voice boomed through the crowd. People began to look over at his distraction. Some moved around to get closer, one of which Linxio was in the middle of picking the coin purse out of their pocket. It fell out, but Linxio had a good hold on it so it just slid out into her hand. A faint smile crossed her face when she saw it, and then looked back up, pretending to be interested in what the accented man had to say.

"I have something amazing to show you that demands your attention!" Brynjolf continued. "You need to hear this!"

A green Argonian with orange feathers coming out of his head walked past Linxio, paying more attention the man than her, so she figured it was a good time to break into the stall and find the ring she had been ordered to take and put into the pocket of another merchant.

She slipped out of the crowd and dove behind Madesi's stall. She found a locked, sliding grate with a metal box behind it. Linxio pulled out her lock picks and smiled. She thought back to a heist she did with her friend before that went somewhat like this. The cat poked the picks into the keyhole and began to jiggle them around. Without warning, one snapped and she almost cried out with anger, but remembered what position she was in and how dubious it would look.

"Come on, Brynjolf…what is it this time?" A voice questioned. It sounded like it was coming from a Dark Elf. At least, that's what Linxio figured. Since it was coming from the other side of the square, she couldn't be sure. She certainly couldn't check yet, but she might be able to once she got the ring and got away from the stall. Hopefully it was, because that's where she was going to plant the ring.

She grabbed another lock pick out of her satchel and tried to open the lock again.

"Patience, Brand-Shei. This is a rare opportunity, and I wouldn't want you to get left out." Brynjolf said, almost jokingly from his tone. Linxio smiled, remembering how her friend had done the same thing when he was tricking someone with a con of his.

The lock gave a satisfying _click_ and the cat opened up the grate to get to the box. She tried to open the small metal safe, but it was locked too. She rested her head on the stall frame, wishing she could just keep hitting it on the wood. She took out another lock pick and twisted it around in the aperture. It snapped three times until she finally got it open.

Inside the box were plenty of valuables to keep Linxio happy and to give her quite a bit of money if she had somewhere to sell it. She grabbed the ring, and was on the verge of taking everything else that was in the coffer, but she stopped with her hand inches away from a garnet. She thought of what Lydia said and how mad she made her when she robbed the Black-Briar Lodge earlier that night. The cat pulled her hand away and closed the box and grate.

"That's what you said about the Wisp Essence," Madesi went on as Linxio snuck around the unoccupied side of the well and towards his stall. She hid behind the boxes he was sitting on, waiting for the perfect moment. "And it turned out to be crushed nirnroot mixed with water."

The Dark Elf had his arms crossed, which gave Linxio a clear path to the pockets of his red tunic. She reached her arm slightly up and slid it into the man's pocket.

"That was a simple misunderstanding, but this item is the real thing." Brynjolf assured his wary customers. Linxio could tell he was starting to lose them, so she tried to hurry away from the market stall back to where she had been standing before.

Once she reached the spot, she had no idea how she would alert Brynjolf to know that she had completed the job. She thought giving him a nod might work, but he didn't see her. So she settled on the signal that she and her friend had made up years ago. She ran her hand along her head then formed it into a thumbs up when it reached the back, and then she put her thumb under her chin.

Brynjolf saw it, was first a bit puzzled, then understood. "Well, I see my time is up. Come back tomorrow if you wish to buy."

People began to disperse and move around the market square again. Linxio approached Brynjolf after finding a path through to him around all the people.

"Looks like I chose the right person for the job." He smiled. "And here you go…your payment, just as I promised." Brynjolf handed Linxio a coin purse, which she took gratefully then she leaned against the shelf protruding off the side of the stall. "The way things have been going around here, it's a relief that our plan went off without a hitch."

The cat raised a curious eyebrow. "What's been going on?"

"Bah. My organization's been having a run of bad luck, but I suppose that's just how it goes." His statement made Linxio smile wide and slyly. "But never mind that, you did the job and you did it well. Best of all, there's more where that came from…if you think you can handle it."

"Sir," the half-Khajiit beamed. "I was _born _doing this kind of thing. 'Course I can handle it."

"Now don't get too cocky." Brynjolf warned. Linxio held her hands up in defense. "But maybe we can put that cockiness to the test.

"The group I represent has its home in the Ratway beneath Riften…a tavern called the Ragged Flagon." He explained.

"Ooo…" Linxio cut in. "Suspicious."

He smiled. "Get there in one piece and we'll see if you've really got what it takes."

The gray cat smiled and turned away to leave, but was stopped by Brynjolf. She looked back at him.

"What was that…thing…you did back there? With your hand?" The red haired man asked.

Linxio waved him off with a grin. "Just this signal me and my friend had when we were…working."

Brynjolf smiled and nodded his head like he understood exactly what she meant. And the cat had a feeling he did, and she didn't need to ask how.

Linxio approached Lydia and Braste who were sitting on the bench that was on the bridge connecting the Bee and Barb to the housing district. Braste looked at the cat expectantly. Lydia just watched her Thane come up to them.

The half-Khajiit kept switching her gaze between the two. "What?"

"Did you find anything out?" Braste questioned.

"That I'm a good thief." She smiled. "But I already knew that."

"About Esbern." The Nord clarified.

"Err…." The cat stuttered.

"You forgot to ask." Lydia stated.

"Sorry." The cat apologized.

Braste sighed and rested her head in her hands with her elbows propped up on her knees.

"I told you she was going to forget." Lydia remarked.

Linxio frowned. "Don't kill me."

* * *

**That was probably the longest wait for you guys. I'm sorry. **

**I have a bunch of reasons…most of them don't work anymore though…**

**My computer screwed up and I couldn't get on it for 3 weeks because my friend was fixing it.**

**I got lazy.**

**I wasn't in the mood to write it.**

**Linxio was getting on my nerves because I don't really like how she acts a lot of the time.**

**And I've been working on a bunch of different stories.**

**Sorry guys.**

**The plus side is that I wrote this all in one day, so I may update more often after this. You might not want to count on it though. :\**

**Next Time:**

_**I'm with the Guild.**_


End file.
